To Stay the Tides
by TheDroidsYoureLookingFor
Summary: Second chances don't come easy, even for one born beyond the grasp of preordained destiny. It starts when she meets a girl fated to die, and it only gets worse when she encounters the shinobi bearing a compass that mirrors hers. In a world where the slightest move could cause irreversible change, Fate is a cruel mistress- and she must be Her favourite puppet. [Soulmate AU, SI/OC]
1. Spiraling

The weight of Samehada on his back feels at once like both a dream and a curse.

Looking down at the body of his mentor, Kisame finds himself void of the hatred and vicious delight that had fuelled his actions just moments ago. In its stead is a dull ache burning behind his ribs, a faint echo of the stabbing guilt that had once overtaken him the first time he'd killed his fellow shinobi. He can't bring himself to feel anything for Fuguki's death, can't even sort out any rational thought now that the feelings of betrayal and duty warring within his mind had been quieted, and he isn't sure if the silence is a blessing or an omen of the storm that is to come.

There's a sharp sting on his wrist. The sensation forces his eyes to dart away from the corpse of the man he once called 'teacher', instead fixing his gaze on his right hand. The arm guards he wears covers his skin, but he doesn't need to see what lies underneath the fabric to know what's there.

The compass on his wrist throbs, its needle spinning without end as it seeks the mirror of his soul. He can count on one hand the number of times that he's felt it ache like this over the years, and it's shocking enough to ground his mind back in the present.

He's killed his master. He's taken the legendary blade. Where can he go? What is there left for him to do?

_Why is his soulmate hurt?_

Before he can think twice, Kisame finds himself running, away from that hideout in the sewers where his former master had hidden himself from the eyes of the village. Away from where his body lies dead for the rats, or maybe to be found by some poor fool. He doesn't know- and he doesn't care. His soulmate has been hurt, and it gives him a sense of focus that he hadn't expected. Kisame doesn't allow himself a moment to think about what he's doing until he's perched upon one of the many stone buildings of Kiri, staring down at the village while Samehada stirs against his back in response to his agitation.

It's surreal, to finally hold the legendary sword and to know it is now his. He'd trained for years under Fuguki- he'd _killed _for him, never asking questions and never doubting his mentor- all for this moment, and yet he still feels nothing. He _has _nothing left.

He should have known better than to just do as he'd been told, blindly believing it would make sense along the way.

Another ache on his wrist, much less intense than the pain from earlier draws his attention back to his soul mark. This time, he reaches for his arm guard and pulls it off, reaffirming- with a slight sense of relief- that his compass is still outlined in black. A part of him always worries that it would someday fade to grey after one of these spikes of pain, try as he might to ignore the fear at the back of his mind.

His soul mark had always earned him a fair share of disdain from his peers and superiors, the compass being viewed as nothing more than a distraction and an unnecessary burden. Be it the physical or emotional distraction attached to it, soulmates were considered a weakness amongst shinobi- and yet, try as he might, Kisame could never truly come to hate the compass on his wrist. Be it during the war, or on his worst missions, and especially after he'd lost his family, he'd found an odd sense of comfort in watching the ever-spinning needle. The promise of someone out there bearing the mirror image of his mark had kept him grounded in a way he couldn't quite explain, and though he'd once been upset that his soulmate wasn't someone from his village, he eventually came to be grateful that they aren't. He's killed too many comrades to be anything but.

The moonlight barely shines through the perpetual mist enshrouding the village, but Kisame has never had problems seeing in the dark. This time, his gaze lingers on his wrist, once again finding the tension in his muscles easing somewhat as his thumb brushes along the delicate swirls of the compass. Amidst the chaos and turmoil of his mind, this tiny, insignificant thing somehow quells the cacophony of his thoughts long enough to give him a brief sense of peace. Long enough to make him think about where he has left to go from here.

The world is one of cruelty- deceit and betrayal litters its paths with almost no end in sight, and it robs him of every hope he's ever held close. This mark, however- this is the one thing that no one could take from him. This is something, someone, he has no reason to doubt. The one constant that is destined for him, and him alone.

They'd told him there was no need for things like emotion in this world. Seeking things like attachments, friendships- they were mere hindrances in the life of a Kirigakure shinobi. Mere obstacles to be removed for the sake of the village when commanded to. But as Kisame rises to his feet, still staring at the ever-spinning compass on his wrist, he begins to wonder if maybe there is more to that cold objective 'truth' than what he has been made to believe- just another lie the village invented to twist and control its shinobi like puppets on strings.

After all, what else are compasses made for, but to find?

With the blood of his teacher on his hands and the moon hanging over his head, Kisame slowly comes to a decision. Only the night sky and the shrouding mists serve as witness to his resolve- and with it, the tides of fate begin to shift.

* * *

**rewind**

* * *

To say that it is difficult to grow up knowing what the future holds would be a grand understatement. To know all of this because it had been recorded in the pages of a comic book from a past life, even more so.

With foresight comes perpetual fear, as well as a certain confidence and power that is difficult to relinquish once it has been grasped. Doing anything that would alter the course that has already been set is to give up control, and the difficulty of such actions are only made more complicated by a guilt that cannot be shaken. Seeing others afflicted by suffering and tragedy is one thing, but to have known it was coming and to do nothing about it for the sake of the greater good is a special suffering that no one else can sympathise with. To have only yourself to judge for every action and inaction, to know that even one good deed could end up damning the world- it's a war between morality and logic, one that never really ends.

It is a lonely burden, to know the fate of the world- and as luck would have it, that is exactly the life she has to lead. Because of _course_ she wasn't allowed to even die peacefully.

Natsuki Hagiwara was born in the Land of Waves, the only child of its second leader and Ōnami, Ayano Hagiwara and her wife, Kaoru. In a neutral nation, miles away from any Hidden Villages and shielded from the worst of the wars across the ocean, it had taken her much longer than it should have to realise just what world she'd been born into. To acknowledge her rebirth that somehow kept her memories of her past life intact had already been hard enough- desolate wailing and utter frustration with her lot in life had been exhausting, and she'd made her new family's lives as miserable as she could during her first few months of existence. It had taken more time than she's proud to admit for her to realise it wasn't their fault she was like this, and to allow herself the energy to care for these people as her own blood, however different they may have been. Once she did, she had found them almost too easy to love, and she'd thought that she could perhaps learn to move on from the past.

Then she turned two, and she'd heard the word 'shinobi' whispered on the streets. When her mom points out a man wearing a headband with a stylised leaf to her in the marketplace, Natsuki is hit with the force of a hundred different memories crashing into her and demanding to be heard- _blonde hair blue eyes whiskers demons_ _ninja conspiracies death tragedy_\- resulting in her completely blacking out and fainting from the stress.

Her mom never really got over the shock of that incident, and Natsuki never saw that shinobi ever again- though she would later learn he'd been part of a team, hired to help escort some merchants into the Land of Fire from their port. It was a whole month before her family brought her out of the house again, and even then, Natsuki could no longer view her world with the same innocent eyes as she did before.

Whether she likes it or not, time waits for no one, even the people they've forced into living beyond their intended demise. And as with all things, Natsuki was forced to live with the facts presented to her. Getting over the loss of her previous life and loved ones had been hard- she will never be over that, not truly- but she took what she had known from her past life and put it to good use. She had to, if she wanted to survive- and by god, the craziest part is that she still did. Even after everything, she _wanted _to live.

So, she did what she did best. She listened, and she learned.

From how her parents talked about the ongoing situation with the major countries and the newspapers she'd slowly learned to read, she managed to learn she'd been born sometime during the Second War. Rumours of its end were being whispered among the civilians as the state of unrest slowly retreats from the Elemental Nations- only to be cast over them again in due time- and Natsuki can't help but feel relieved that she hadn't been born to one of the Hidden Villages. Though it made her stomach twist with guilt, she was decidedly content to merely stand aside and watch as the world went by on its messy, tragic, and yet ultimately happy course.

All things considered, she believed she'd gotten the better end of this reincarnation ordeal. A loving family, a home that's uninvolved in the war, nigh impossible odds of interfering with the preordained story- everything is as it should be.

There is one thing Natsuki hadn't accounted for, however. The story she knew had never once mentioned anything about compasses of fate and intertwined souls.

"Okaa-chan." Her mother, Ayano turns towards her at her call, her face softening as she meets her gaze over the papers she's been sorting through at her desk all day. The bored toddler sits innocuously on the floor of her play mat, her hands absently fiddling with wooden horse toy that one of her parents' friends had made for her. With a tilt of her head, she asks, "Why won't my compass stop spinning?"

Ayano hums thoughtfully for a moment, pushing aside a stray strand of hair that had somehow escaped the bun she'd tied at the base of her neck. Natsuki watches as the woman rises from her seat to make her way towards her, deep brown eyes reflecting her contemplation. The lack of surprise she displays is likely attributed to her having expected the inquiry, which in turn had been encouraged by Natsuki's own progress and understanding of the world around her.

Despite her youth, Natsuki had regained just about most, if not all of the cognitive abilities of her previous life sometime after her first year in this life. The bits and pieces that had made up the incomprehensible mess of her mind had slowly acclimatised to her new form, and with that came the incessant need to regain control and autonomy of her body. It was matter of pride, really, since it was indescribably embarrassing to be so dependent on others for the most basic of needs- and so, Natsuki had all but thrown herself into relearning the basics.

If her parents or grandfather ever noticed how quickly she'd learned to grasp words and stand on her feet compared to the others of her age, they simply attributed it to her being a fast learner. They were absolute champs like that, taking her progress in stride and answering any of her queries with minimal babying- though considering the league of actual prodigies in this universe, she shouldn't have been surprised.

"That just means that your soulmate is someplace very far from here, Nacchan." As her mother seats herself down on the mat, Natsuki willingly crawls over into her lap, earning a soft laugh from Ayano as she scoops her up with ease. Grown in mind though she may be, Natsuki had always been a bit of a cuddler, and there's something about her new mother's warmth that brings out the child in her. "The further away they are, the faster it spins. When they get closer, the needle will slow- until someday, if you're lucky, it will point the way to them."

A slight frown pulls at Natsuki's lips. She wants to formulate the right sentence to express herself, but she falls short, settling instead for, "But Tatsumi-kun doesn't have one."

It's one of the first things Natsuki had noticed about her closest playmate. Tatsumi Arikawa is the grandson of her mother's closest political aide, a five year-old equipped with all the brutish confidence childhood entails and a distinct lack of any compass on his wrist, spinning or otherwise. Besides his stupidly pretty green eyes, the latter had been the very first thing Natsuki had noticed the first time she'd met him before he'd tried to pull her hair and she returned in kind with a jab at his eye. She still didn't understand how they'd made up after that- one of the many mysteries of childhood innocence.

"Not everyone is born with a soul mark, Nacchan. That isn't a bad thing- it just means they might have different experiences than you will." There's a note of contemplation to Ayano's voice- it seems that she's trying to word this in a way she can understand. "Soulmates are a rare and precious thing, but we don't need them to live. Do you understand?"

"They're..." Ah, what's the word for 'luxuries' here? She'll just settle on a something a little easier. "Special?"

"Yes, they are." Her mother chuckles, the warm, rumbling sound resounding deep in her chest. Natsuki closes her eyes as she leans into the gentle vibrations- a part of her still aches for the family she's lost from before, but she cannot simply brush aside the love and warmth that radiates from this woman. "Somewhere out there, someone else has the same compass that you do. They're probably wondering about you right now, too."

Natsuki hums, silencing the cynic in her that wants to scoff. She'd done that the first time her grandfather told her what the compass on her wrist meant, and the frown on his face had made her feel horrible afterward. She still doesn't really buy into the whole idea of having a soulmate- it's a cute, fluffy concept, but in her mind that's still all it is. A concept. She entertains the notion anyway, though. "Did you ever dream about meeting Kaa-san?"

"When I was a girl, yes." Another laugh, this one tinged with a hint of embarrassment that makes even Natsuki smile. "I could never have expected someone like her, though."

Soulmates, as her Okaa-chan goes on to explain to her, aren't always meant to be your 'one true love'. They're supposed to be the complement to your soul, one who understands you so completely and utterly that there is simply no one else who can come close. Some people are born without a compass, and some have more than one, but ultimately the implication is the same. There will never be anyone else like the person that a soul compass leads you to.

"And that's how you met Kaa-san?"

"Yes." Ayano's fingers card through Natsuki's curls, the familiar sensation almost lulling her back into slumber. "I remember dropping all of my things and running straight to the eastern docks when my compass started pointing the way."

"Was she looking for you, too?" Natsuki asks, genuinely curious. She's never heard about how her parents met and she does want to know- but there's something else that's been bothering her. From the little hints she's managed to pick up- the timeline of things, her distinctly vibrant red locks, her grandfather and mom's intricate calligraphy scrolls- Natsuki can't help but feel a vague worry settle in the pits of her stomach. If she's right about this...

"Not at first." The snort that leaves Ayano's lips is without venom, but there's something distantly sad in her eyes. Her voice is quieter when she says, "You see Nacchan, your Kaa-san had to leave her home during the war. She was... very hurt when she first arrived here with your Jii-chan all those years ago. Her compass was the last thing on her mind back then."

"Oh." Natsuki feels her hands fisting slightly into the collar of Ayano's yukata, unable to hold back her curiosity. "Where was her old home?"

This time, her mother hesitates to reply. "I'm not sure if..."

"We came from Uzushiogakure, shōko*." A low, gravelly voice chimes in from the doorway, and Natsuki flinches- more out of instinct than genuine surprise- as she turns towards the new arrival. She hadn't heard anyone enter, and from the way her mother tenses up, she hadn't, either. The two of them relax almost immediately however, upon recognising the familiar face of her grandfather, who smiles at them with a twinkle in his eye that carries just a hint of mischief.

Natsuki ignores the way her stomach sinks at the confirmation of her theory. She's kind of known for a while now, anyway.

"Jii-chan, welcome home!" Natsuki pipes up, beaming up at her grandfather as her mother stands to welcome her father-in-law home from his work. The old man plants a kiss on Natsuki's forehead, making her giggle in delight- her grandfather's stubble always tickled incessantly, but she'd be lying if she says she doesn't love the attention. Being a cute baby has its perks.

"Hiroki-san, are you sure about this?" Ayano voices her question once the greetings are out of the way, her expression one of mild concern. Natsuki glances between the two adults from where she's held against her mother's hip, a tendril of worry snaking its way into her heart. Had she done something she shouldn't have by asking that question?

"She is one of us. She will have to know someday, for her own safety." Despite his solemn voice, there's something knowing in the depths of her grandfather's violet eyes that immediately has Natsuki feeling like she's been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. The corner of his lips quirks up slightly, and he brushes a finger against her cheek. "Besides, our Natsuki is smarter than she looks. I'm sure she understands how important it is that she keeps this a secret- don't you, shōko?"

Puffing up her cheeks, Natsuki wordlessly nods as she shoves her undoubtedly guilty-looking face into the crook of her mother's neck. All the while, her grandfather merely laughs pleasantly, as if he hasn't completely ousted her for poking dangerously close to what seems to be a taboo topic. Thankfully, she could merely play it off as her being a cheeky, if curious kid who just happened to ask whatever came to mind, instead of an impatient adult trying to pick at secrets before the right time.

For now, she'll just have to live with the embarrassment all of that entails until she's figured out just what she ought to do with this strange shot at life.

* * *

There's always been something different about her mom compared to Ayano. Where her mother's warmth is akin to a small, steady flame in the fireplace, her mom's aura reminds her of the cool touch of rain against her skin. When Kaoru holds her, Natsuki remembers arcs of light shining brightly through a sea of grey clouds, the scent of ozone on the horizon, the low rumble of rolling thunder. Her mom doesn't feel as warm as Ayano or Hiroki, but she feels just as safe in her arms- if not more so. If Ayano is a fire- feelings of home, love, laughter- Kaoru is the eye of a storm, a sanctuary of safety and control in the midst of uncertainty.

Natsuki is almost four years old when she realises that this feeling isn't just her waxing poetic. When her mom storms into her room, fingers moving through a series of seals before chains erupt from her back, she feels the explosion of lightning chakra like a spark in the air and thinks- _oh _.

She doesn't get to think much else when the chains spear through the rogue shinobi that had tried to steal her from her crib, only to end up activating the immobilising seals engraved into the woodwork- Natsuki hadn't even known they were there. It's hard to come up with any thought, really, when she hears the crunch of the bladed chains cutting clean through bone, the gurgled final breaths of the man wearing a hitai-ate bearing Kiri's symbol, and she can only stare as the life leaves his eyes.

It's only when her mother gathers her into her arms and pulls her far away from the bedroom, where her mom glares at the dead shinobi with a raw hatred she's never seen on her face before, that Natsuki finally passes out again.

* * *

Hiroki's chakra has been unusually calm compared to that of her parents'. Two weeks have passed since the trio from Kirigakure had tried to abduct her- apparently there were others with him that she hadn't seen, but they had been taken care of quickly by her mom and grandfather. From the hushed murmurs that her parents have tried to keep her from hearing, they speculated that it had been a last ditch attempt at getting their hands on more Uzumaki blood to help sustain their troops in the fight against Konoha, and the implications of their words are enough to plant a shard of ice within her heart. She'd known that other villages had destroyed Konoha's sister village out of fear of Her might, but she hadn't once considered the possibility of their villagers being taken prisoner to supplement the war effort. The memory of another Uzumaki who had been trained under Orochimaru comes to mind- a woman whose chakra had healing powers on par with or even beyond that of the great Tsunade- and the idea of others like her having been drained of their life force against their will is enough to make her ill.

Her parents do their best to act like everything's normal, carefully watching for any changes in her own behaviour to evaluate just how badly this incident has affected her. Their attempts at keeping her in the dark might have worked, were she a normal child- but she's not, and her sudden discovery of her ability to sense chakra has made it impossible not to notice changes in others' moods when she focuses. It reflects in the strength of their chakra, with sudden spikes that indicate agitation, worry or other distressing emotions. There has been a lot of that from her family as a whole, especially when they notice her moments of despondency, but ever since Hiroki had been tasked with watching over her after both her parents had to go back to their work, Natsuki has noticed just how little his chakra gives away with regards to his moods and thoughts.

Even now, as she toddles back towards him after playing on the swings- the playground is a good place to distract her from the quiet of her thoughts, what with the unrestrained surges of chakra from the other children and their constant chatter- she tries to focus on her grandfather's signature and finds it the same as always. His chakra feels like that of Ayano's, a warm hearth that burns steady and strong. His nature is fire, she's able to deduce, and like Kaoru, he has far greater reserves than her civilian mother.

"Jii-chan." Hiroki looks at Natsuki over the pages of the newspaper he's reading on the park bench- Natsuki wonders if he's a sensor as well, seeing as he isn't surprised by her approach nor has he really had to actively look for her while he does his daily reading. Hands balling up in the fabric of her shirt, she asks hesitantly, "Don't you have to go to work?"

"Not today, shōko." He raises an eyebrow at her- the same way her mom did that time when she'd caught Natsuki climbing the kitchen counter to get her own milk when she'd thought everyone else was asleep, amusement bubbling beneath the surface of those eyes as they watch her scramble to explain herself. "Already trying to chase me away? I thought you missed spending time with your grandpa."

"Of course I did!" Despite seeing the obvious bait, Natsuki finds herself retorting before she can think twice. Blushing, she twists her shirt even more between her hands and murmurs, "I just thought..."

"I know." Hiroki reaches for her hands, gently coaxing her to release her hold on the abused fabric. His palms are calloused and wrinkled with age, lined with faint scars that speak of age and battle beyond her understanding. As he carries her into his lap, newspaper pushed to the side and forgotten, he says, "You haven't been sleeping well, have you Natsuki?"

At his words, Natsuki flinches- but she doesn't answer. She's tried to be a good kid since she'd gotten old enough to walk, so that her guardians would never have to worry about their little girl who's too old for her body and bears memories of a family that no longer exist. She's always felt like she'd stolen something from these wonderful, kind people by being born the way she did, robbed them of a happy child with eyes that would gaze at the world in wonder and innocence and not- not like her. Not someone who has nightmares about demons and ancient gods with an eye in the sky and the deaths of people she's never met. To that end she'd done her best to play the part, laughing at the silly things they do and doing her best to make them smile and muffling her tears when she dreams of a world that already slipped through her fingers.

And if she now dreams of lifeless grey eyes and blood seeping into the floorboards while hands reach into her crib to drag her out- then that's no one's business but her own. She's tried doubly hard to keep them from worrying about her since the incident, especially when they now had to look into security measures despite the dwindling war. In hindsight, she should have guessed that her grandfather- wise beyond even her years, trained to notice even the slightest detail- would be the first to notice her restlessness.

"It's okay to tell me, shōko. I'm just worried about you- we all are." There's an edge of genuine softness to his voice now, and it only makes Natsuki feel worse. She hates that she's the reason for his concern- she doesn't deserve it- and so she takes a deep breath and dodges the question with a query of her own.

"Why were those men here?"

As she'd expected, Hiroki falls completely silent, but his arm tightens around her slightly in a protective reflex that makes her guilt weight heavily on her mind. There are a number of reasons why that shinobi had reached for her in that crib- blackmail, murder, kidnapping- and there's no way to tell which it is, because dead men cannot confess, and Kiri will never admit they had any part in trying to steal a child in their desperation to win this war. There's no way for Hiroki to tell her any of this when he's above lying to her just to put her at ease, and so the two of them merely sit there in silence, the afternoon sun hanging high in the sky and the air filled with the squeals and laughter of children running across the playground. Natsuki doesn't look at her grandfather, fixating instead on the swing set where two kids are now arguing over who gets to go next, and wishes she could have been more like them.

When her grandfather rises to his feet and bounces her on his arm, he says something that manages to catch her off-guard.

"Let's go a little off the usual track today, what do you say?" With a wink, he adds conspiratorially, "It'll be our secret, okay?"

He's trying to distract her, she knows, but Natsuki nods anyway. She may be mature beyond her years, but that doesn't stop her from being curious about this new world, filled with countless mysteries and new facets she has yet to uncover. Hands curling around her grandfather's neck, Natsuki watches in silence as her grandfather takes a different path from the one he normally uses to go back home. Instead of being greeted with more buildings, his feet carry him in the opposite direction of the residential area, leading them both out towards the farmlands further into the island.

Waves is much bigger than Natsuki remembers the anime making it out to be- besides the ports along their shores and the main town district, much of the island is comprised of both cultivated land and untouched forests. The island is segregated into several different sectors for easier management and reference, though she still isn't sure of the specifics. Besides the sprawling plains and hillsides that they've used to grow crops and breed livestock, she knows there are industrial sectors for managing the fisheries and forestry products, though she's never seen those areas on the other side of the island, or the south-eastern port either. It sometimes amazes her just how big this country is, when it's barely a speck on the map compared to the Elemental Nations- and yet, just how tightly interconnected their society is as a whole.

As Hiroki walks the paths running past the seemingly endless paddy field plains, countless people greet both him and Natsuki with a smile when they pass by. At one point a rickshaw driver on his bike even offers to give them a lift for free- a man whose son Hiroki had treated about a year ago, her grandfather explains. Even complete strangers she's never met in her life take a moment to say hello as she rides atop her grandfather's shoulders, to which she shyly waves back at them in return. Natsuki is positive just about everyone knows her for who she is as the Ōnami's daughter, but she doesn't miss the rare sneer or frown that a select few people throw her way. Waves may be a peaceful community, but even small societies aren't immune to the disease of discrimination- and the fact that Kaoru is a fairly recent immigrant to the country during a time of conflict doesn't exactly win the favour of every person here.

Try as she might to ignore the sting of hurt and anger that leaves... it's not something she intends to let slide forever.

Natsuki and her grandfather continue like that for a long time, venturing deeper inland past the farmlands as the number of people grow fewer and fewer, and she begins to wonder just where her grandfather is taking her.

"Jii-chan, aren't you tired from all the walking?"

"Not at all." Hiroki replies easily, before he slowly comes to a stop in the middle of an empty road. Natsuki looks around, only to be struck with more confusion as she takes note of where they are. There are a few stray chickens wandering around, but besides that there's nothing of note besides the trees of the forest beyond.

Natsuki glances at her grandfather, who cranes his head back to look at her with that familiar twinkle in his eye. As he slowly pries her off his shoulders and shifts her back into his arms, he says, "Don't worry, we're almost there."

And then, just before Natsuki can ask where he's going, he leaps high off the ground and right into the treeline. Natsuki clutches at his neck with all her might, shrieking in fear and unexpected delight whilst the world rushes by. For a moment, she's weightless with nothing but the firm grip her grandfather has on her keeping her grounded, the wind rushing through her hair and only the sky and empty space around her.

Then her grandfather lands solidly on a tree branch that barely quivers under his weight, and the world is suddenly stable again.

"Sorry. Did I scare you, shōko?" Despite the question, there's obvious amusement in his voice, and Natsuki levels a half-hearted glare at her grandfather. The attempt only lasts a second, however, before she cracks a small smile, betraying the exhilaration that sets her heart fluttering in her chest

"It was like flying." Her words come out in a nearly breathless murmur, an almost anxious anticipation flooding her voice as she says, "Are we doing it again?"

"Well, good to see someone's enjoying herself." Hiroki laughs, his chakra circling pleasantly within his core and conveying his genuine joy. It's the closest thing Natsuki has felt to a genuine betrayal of his emotion from his aura, sans the barest flicker of fire that had quickly been squashed down to almost nothing on the day he'd come back after her attempted kidnapping. As he steadies his grip on her again, he says, "Come on, I've a few more tricks to show you."

As her grandfather hops from tree to tree, Natsuki keeps her head low and peers over his shoulder, quietly in awe of just how quickly everything flies by. The rainforests of Waves are densely packed with all sorts of hardwood trees, supplying more than enough footholds for Hiroki to navigate through the treeline. There's a decent amount of sunlight filtering through the leaves, the shadows of the trees making them look almost like stars in daylight through the dense canopy as they travel past, and Natsuki finds herself staring in fascination at just how beautiful all of it looks from here. She'd never been an avid camper or outdoors sort of person in her previous life, but seeing nature like this- untouched and reaching for the sky with towering branches and lofty evergreens- leaves her a little star-struck by the magnificence of it all.

Her grandfather's display of shinobi navigation skills is almost dull in comparison. Just almost.

When they finally begin to slow down and descend the branches, they're standing in a small clearing next to a wide riverbank, surrounded by trees on all sides. Natsuki glances around, intrigued- she isn't sure which of Waves' countless rivers this is, but the water runs almost crystal clear and she swears she can see the shadows of fish swimming through the currents. She isn't sure how her grandfather managed to find such a picturesque location so deep into the forest, but when he lowers her to the ground, Natsuki looks up and sees an unexpectedly serious look on his face.

"Do you remember when I explained to you what chakra is, Natsuki?" Eyes widening slightly at the question, Natsuki quickly bobs her head in affirmation. "Good. Today, I'm going to teach you how to use it."

"Really?" Her incredulous question comes out as a whisper, and Hiroki's lips momentarily twitch in amusement before his expression grows solemn once more.

"The shinobi arts are not something to be taken lightly, shōko. What I am about to teach you could be dangerous if you attempt it without supervision. You must never experiment with your chakra on your own- and above all, you must not tell anyone that you are practising with it. Are we clear?"

Natsuki swallows lightly at the gravity in her grandfather's usually cheerful voice. Were she a regular child, this might have flown over her head- but she isn't, and from the way her grandfather looks at her expectantly with those deep mauve eyes, she knows that _he_knows she's quicker on the uptake than she sometimes pretends to be. "I understand, Jii-chan."

"Pinky promise?" His voice suddenly lightens again, and he extends his pinky finger towards her meaningfully. Natsuki holds back a giggle as she hooks her own finger over his, shaking it with a firm grasp.

"I promise." With that affirmation, Hiroki fondly ruffles her hair and draws out yet another peal of laughter from her, before he makes his way towards the trees. Trailing behind him, Natsuki watches as he picks up several fallen leaves from the ground- a memory comes to mind, one of a blonde child wearing a severe look of concentration on his face as he sticks a leaf to his forehead- and begins to put the pieces together.

She hadn't planned on becoming a ninja, or anything of the sort- but it wouldn't hurt to learn a few neat tricks, right?

"Now, then." Hiroki settles on the forest floor and she follows suit, before he presses several of the leaves he'd gathered into her hands. When he lifts his hand from hers, one of the leaves is sticking effortlessly to the centre of his palm. "Here's what I want you to do. First, concentrate on feeling your chakra gathering in your stomach…"

* * *

Natsuki peers out from behind the big rock she's hidden behind, heart pounding in anticipation as her eyes rove over the seemingly empty beach between her and her target. Crouching down until the shallow waters of the receding tide brush against her knees, she's careful not to make any splashes before she reaches the drier sandbank and makes a break for the next rock formation. Diving behind it, she cushions her landing with her hands and pauses, her breaths slow and shallow while she listens for any sign of movement nearby. Reaching out with her chakra, she detects only the single bright glow of her target in her mind's eye, staunchly ignoring the significantly smaller signatures at her feet and all over the beach. She's looking for something else, something bigger and more dangerous and _it's right behind her._

"_ Got you _."

Natsuki squeaks and scrambles to her feet, a last-ditch attempt at losing her chaser that is ultimately for naught, as Kaoru sweeps her into her arms and her fingers immediately dig into her sides.

"Alas, I have captured the great sea monster! Now I shall save my crew from her treacherous claws!" Kaoru declares with all the melodrama she can muster, Natsuki squirming in her tickling hands to no avail. Squealing with laughter, Natsuki struggles to escape her mom's dastardly attacks as she flails her arms and legs helplessly.

"Lemme go!"

"Never!" Kaoru declares, before she leans in and blows a raspberry against her neck. Natsuki's laughter grows even louder, squirming and thrashing as she tries to free herself from the onslaught.

"Stop, stop!"

"Alright, you two. That's enough." Natsuki startles at the sudden interruption, both her and Kaoru pausing to look up at Ayano, who had left her spot on the beach and was now standing in front of them. With a fond smile, she says, "You both fought valiantly- the battle was hard-won indeed. Now, let's return to shore for a well-deserved break."

Neither Natsuki nor her mom protest against that, and so they all make their way back to where they'd laid out their little picnic mat. This side of the island is rather quiet compared to the main beach closer to town- a nice secluded area where her parents have made it a habit to hold their semi-annual beach picnics. They'd long since finished the contents of the lunch they'd packed for this little beach day, and so Natsuki plops herself down on her corner of the mat to dry herself off. Kaoru takes the liberty of helping her comb out her hair, taking extra care to untangle out the loose curls before the salt water dries and leaves the strands stiff and matted.

Once they'd gotten that sorted out, Natsuki finds herself wrapped in a towel and curled up against Kaoru's chest, unconsciously reaching out to sense the gentle thrum of her mom's lightning chakra. It's a low, pleasant buzz that reflects her relaxed mood, and Ayano's smaller, flickering chakra is similarly flowing through her coils at a slow pace. Her mother is pressed up against Kaoru's side, and between both of her parents, Natsuki feels safe and at ease.

Amidst the peaceful silence, Natsuki doesn't expect to hear the words that leave her mom's lips.

"I was a shinobi once, a long time ago."

Natsuki had almost fallen asleep, lulled to slumber by the sound of her mom's steady heartbeat, before her quiet admittance quickly rouses her once again. Her mom's eyes are clouded as she gazes out at the ocean, her thumb absently rubbing circles against Natsuki's arm as she cradles her close. Her voice is soft, bearing a distinct undercurrent of melancholy as she asks, "Your grandfather told you where we came from, do you remember?"

"He said you lived in Uzushiogakure."

"Yes." A sad smile picks at the corner of her lip momentarily before it falls short. "It was a beautiful place. Smaller than Waves, but everyone there was always good to each other. We all treated our friends and neighbours as if we were one big family." Her voice catches slightly towards the end of her sentence, but her brief lapse in control is amended as quickly as it happened. "You would have loved it, Natsuki- the ocean was so blue and clear that you could see almost everything beneath you as you swam."

"Were there crabs?" Natsuki asks immediately. Most of Waves' coastlines consisted of silt and mud instead of sand, and with that territory came plenty of the annoying crustaceans. This remote little cove they're at is one of the rare exceptions to the norm, and it's the only place besides the main beach that Natsuki's willing to swim in.

"Plenty of them- but just as many fish." Both Kaoru and Ayano sound like they're barely holding back their laughter after the face Natsuki pulls at the former's initial answer. The amusement in her mom's tone belies an undertone of wistfulness as she combs her fingers through Natsuki's hair, sighing. "I wish you could have seen it. I could have shown you all the secret places on the island where my Onii-chan and I would play."

A million questions come to mind as silence fills the air once again- her mom's never been a woman of many words, but there's something particularly solemn about this quietude. Natsuki hesitates to give voice to any of her inquiries, knowing that they will open a dam of hurt and painful memories that she has no right to pry at, but a part of her demands that she has the right to know. She cannot keep making guesses at things- not if her life is on the line, and not if she wants to know just how much is the same and what's different about the world she lives in compared to what she remembers.

"Why can't I tell anyone where we came from?" Natsuki asks, pulling her towel tighter around her shoulders. "Is it the same reason why those men tried to take me?"

"Oh, Natsuki." The way Kaoru's voice breaks as she murmurs her name strikes her like a knife to the chest. As her mom gathers her in her arms and hugs her close, Natsuki feels almost unworthy of the love and concern this woman has for her- not after she'd said these words knowing what they'd do. "I'm so, so sorry."

"It's not Kaa-san's fault," Natsuki protests, but her voice is weak. Even Ayano is silent as she puts an arm around Kaoru, her expression grave. It takes a moment for Kaoru to pull herself together long enough to look Natsuki in the eye- and when she does, Natsuki is startled to see the determination on her face

"Natsuki, you must listen to me very closely." Kaoru's voice is soft, nearly a whisper, but is in no way lacking urgency. Her eyes flit around the area, as if she's afraid someone will overhear, and Natsuki suddenly realises just how big a deal all of this truly is. "Your Jii-chan and I, we left to protect ourselves when enemies came to destroy our village. We had to go into hiding, and... we lost many of our friends and family when that happened."

Kaoru's violet eyes are hard as she meets Natsuki's gaze, and she says, "But there are people who are still doing everything they can to hurt us if they find us. Those nuke-nin who broke into our home, they were the same."

"But... why?" And how did he know to seek her out, if their status is supposed to be a secret? Something about this doesn't add up, and Natsuki feels ill as her mind conjures up an image of a man with bandages covering half his body and an arm implanted with stolen eyes.

"We were part of a very special clan, Natsuki. The biggest in all of Uzushio." Her mom gently grasps a lock of Natsuki's hair between her fingers, her eyes distant as she gazes upon the vibrant crimson that is familiar to her in a way Natsuki can't begin to understand. "They're afraid of what we can do- and some of them want our power for themselves. That is why your Jii-chan and I can never openly expose ourselves as shinobi, do you understand?"

"But Jii-chan works at the hospital. And you work with the police force."

"There are things we can do without using ninjutsu, you know." Kaoru's lips curve into a small smile. "The people here are good to us. Some of them are... wary, but they won't sell us out to the enemy. Not now that we've proven our loyalty to them."

"That's not very nice." Natsuki frowns, remembering the dirty looks some people had thrown her way whenever she went out with her grandfather or mom. One lifetime of seeing discrimination rear its ugly head had made her opinions on such things rather firm. "You shouldn't have to prove anything. Everyone here came from elsewhere, too."

"Someone's been paying attention to her history books, I see." Kaoru comments lightly, before she gives a small sigh. "It's complicated, Natsuki. I'm sure you understand, but there are some things that are difficult to change. People's perceptions are just one of them."

"It's not fair."

"It seldom is." Here, Kaoru frees one hand to entwine it with Ayano's, and the look she gives her is at once soft and filled with pride. "But that's what your Okaa-san is fighting so hard to do- to make this place better, and the people with it. It's hard work, and not everyone agrees with what she does, but someday things will be better- for everyone here today, and the future to come."

The future, huh? Images of a slimy, cruel businessman who had robbed Waves blind and killed countless innocents in his quest for wealth came to mind, and Natsuki clenches her hands tighter in the folds of her towel. The fictional story from the past had never mentioned anything about the governing system of Waves, but for the country to have been completely taken over and thrust into decline, something must have happened to the leaders of the country as well. Whether they were killed or simply forced into silence- she doesn't know. And that uncertainty makes her uneasy, because who is to say things will even go the same way as the 'canon' she once knew, if the role of Ōnami didn't exist then?

Natsuki looks at the spinning compass on her wrist, and then at her parents' intertwined hands, where their compasses point right at each other without even the slightest sway. If it weren't for these soul marks, would her parents have ever met at all?

What if, in that original timeline, the only reason there had been no mention of Natsuki Hagiwara was because she had never existed?

"Kaa-san." Natsuki determinedly chases away the noisy thoughts that come unbidden into her head, starting a new topic to break the silence. When Kaoru looks down at her, she asks, "What was it like when you met Okaa-chan?"

At first, her mom blinks, clearly having not expected the question. And then a smile breaks out across her face, violet eyes suddenly filled with such genuine warmth as she looks at her wife that even Natsuki finds herself stunned. Thumb brushing over Ayano's hand, she says, "Well, it was really quite unexpected. She was more beautiful than I dared to dream of- I was rendered quite speechless when I first saw her."

Ayano rolls her eyes, even as a pretty blush creeps along her cheekbones and up along her ears. Swatting Kaoru's shoulder with her free hand, she mutters, "Oh, please. I was knee deep in paperwork at the time and hadn't washed my hair in days."

"I meant what I said," Kaoru retorts easily, a cheeky smile on her face that is nearly identical to that of Hiroki's. Ayano's blush grows even darker, but she affectionately bumps her arm against Kaoru's shoulder nonetheless. Natsuki watches the interaction and can almost feel her heart melting in her chest, a small smile lingering on her face.

"Did you know that you know that you would love Okaa-chan when you saw her?" She asks, a tinge of genuine curiosity in her voice. She still wonders just how this soulmate thing works- if there's just that instant spark of chemistry between complementary souls, or a deep-rooted recognition and draw to one another that just feels right when they finally meet. Kaoru seems to think over the question for a moment before she speaks up.

"I think a part of me always did. It was how that love grew that surprised me."

"Was I a surprise, too?"

A startled laugh escapes Ayano's throat, whereas Kaoru's face turns a bright red while she makes a strange, spluttering sound that's caught between amusement and embarrassment. It takes a lot for Natsuki to keep a straight face- she could always count on unexpected adult humour to make her parents crack up.

"A bit, perhaps." Ayano chimes in, saving Kaoru the embarrassment of trying to sort out her words. Pulling Natsuki into a hug, her mother nuzzles her face against her head and says, "But we always knew we would love you- and we were right. Neither of us would trade what we have for the world.

Natsuki doesn't have the words to respond to that- she merely wraps her own arms around her mother and holds her close, feeling a swell of affection in her chest for this family that she never thought she could even begin to muster. Kaoru joins in the hug not long after, and Natsuki allows herself a moment to just forget about the worries of the future and the world around her. In that moment, she's content with this life that she has, and she can almost believe that everything will be okay.

"Did your Okaa-chan tell you how she scolded me for almost missing her, and then demanded that I take a bath before I could reply?" Kaoru suddenly says.

"Really? Did you stink?"

"Like a heap of old fish," Ayano affirms.

"Eww." Natsuki wrinkles her nose, and both her parents laugh quietly as they huddle together in their little corner of the world and watch the sun set.

Though she doesn't know exactly how and when, Natsuki remembers dying fairly young. While old enough to have been an adult, her life experiences had still been lacking in most areas. She doesn't know what it was like to love someone the way Kaoru and Ayano love each other- in their tender gazes, the brushing of hands, the soft kisses they shared when they thought she wasn't looking. She doesn't understand the mixture of melancholy and joy in her grandfather's eyes whenever he sees his daughter and her wife together, his fingers brushing against the grey outline of his own compass, frozen in time and a needle forever pointing northwards. There's a connection between the souls linked by the compasses of fate, but she can't even begin to imagine knowing what that feels like.

Natsuki glances again at the soul compass on her wrist, the needle spinning on its eternally unbalanced axis, and she wonders if she ever will.

* * *

* shoko: little tiger

**AN:** yes this was cross posted from ao3 i recognise the irony in this. If yall are followers of mine from way back when i started on here, what is UP i am not dead i'm just acclimatising to ao3, and i have not abandoned anything else I've left up here

In regards to this story, well. This is extremely self-indulgent. That's really the only excuse I have. "Why a soulmate au" you may ask, and the only answer is because I am hungry and I make my own content. The premise of the soulmate compass AU is inspired greatly by the work 'Cynically Yours' by MM_Mendell, which is where I first discovered this particular concept and decided to look more into it. Do check them out, I absolutely adore their take on the concept!

Story-wise, this fic dabbles in some worldbuilding and politics, and I'll dedicate a couple of chapters to laying the premise before we leap into the driving plot of the story. Besides that, I'm really all here for some good ol fashioned shameless fluff because I miss kisame and the sharkman deserves smooches.


	2. Descent

Natsuki tries very hard not to gape- only to fail spectacularly as she stares in wonder at the magnificent creature before her. Large, amber eyes merely stare back unblinkingly at her, bearing a certain intelligence and wisdom that she's never seen before in the face of any creature from either of her lives.

The tiger sitting primly before her is gargantuan compared to the diminutive stature of her five-year-old self, making her feel both small and completely clumsy. Its fur is comprised of deep oranges and stripes of rich ebon, and though Natsuki is struck with the urge to run her fingers through the thick, soft coat, she figures she prefers having her hands attached to her body. Even as the tiger remains still, Natsuki is fully aware of the power it possesses, heavy muscle and lightning fast reflexes that could tear her to pieces in an instant. The predator is at once beautiful and terrifying, and Natsuki wonders if she should bow before such majesty.

"You're going to catch flies, shōko." Hiroki's voice shakes her out of her trance, and he sounds like he's trying very hard not to laugh while gesturing to his own stubbled chin. "You're supposed to be a tiger, not a frog."

"So, this is Kaoru-chan's cub." Right as Natsuki closes her mouth, she nearly lets it fall open again when the tiger finally speaks. Her voice is distinctly feminine, and it bears a certain weight and dignity that makes Natsuki wonder just how old this feline is. "What is your name, child?"

"Natsuki Hagiwara, at your service." Natsuki replies promptly, somehow managing to keep her voice from shaking. Bowing low, she adds, "It is an honour to meet you."

A deep rumbling sounds in the tigress' chest, and somehow it comes across as sounding _pleased_. With a nod, she purrs back, "I am Masami. I have answered the call of the summoners since the first of the Uzumaki signed our contract." Turning towards Hiroki, her voice gains a note of amusement as she says, "The girl has manners. She certainly didn't get that from you, Hiroki-chan."

"Masami-sama, you make it sound like I'm a terrible influence." Hiroki puts on a wounded tone that contrasts heavily with the smile on his face. Masami merely shakes her head, and Natsuki can't help but wonder at how casually her grandfather is able to address the majestic wildcat. Even sitting down, her head almost reaches his shoulders- her grandfather isn't exactly a short man- and her paws are easily bigger than his head.

"I've known you since you were a cub yourself. You may be turning grey now, but you don't deceive my eyes." Suddenly, the tigress rises to her feet, and Natsuki has to stop herself from taking a step back. She's pretty sure by now that the tigers from her past life had never been this massive- not when Masami is practically double the expected size. Her golden eyes are focused upon Natsuki again, and the girl inhales sharply as she senses the tigress' chakra envelop her. "This one, however…"

Natsuki finds it difficult to breathe, overcome by a slight dizziness as she stares into the aureate depths of Masami's eyes. She can _feel_ the tiger extending her own chakra to prod at her centre, a blend of such powerful energy that Natsuki can't even focus on it without seeing stars. The chakra nature of humans is easy enough to distinguish once she's able to pinpoint the feel of it, but this is something else entirely. It's countless sensations and memories hurtling against her senses, none of which she can pick apart without having it ripped away and replaced by another- and yet, it doesn't feel wrong.

It feels like _life_.

"You can sense it." Masami's voice snaps her out of her brief stupour, and Natsuki swears she can detects something that sounds like approval in her tone. "Many an Uzumaki were sensitive to the force of life, as well. It seems you have inherited that gift."

"How did you know?"

"I can feel your chakra reaching out to mine." Slowly circling her, Masami adds, "Your sensory skills are impressive for one so young- but they can yet be improved on. Will you be able to aid her with that, Hiroki-chan?"

"I should be able to manage." Hiroki shrugs, scratching at his greying beard in an almost dismissive motion. Natsuki isn't fooled for one second, however- she can see her grandfather scrutinising her with a new light in his eyes, and she wonders if she's done something she shouldn't have by keeping her sensing abilities under wraps. Averting her eyes, Natsuki focuses instead on the great tigress as she comes to a halt in front of her, sitting back on her haunches and calling all attention back to her with a mere swish of her tail.

"A child of the gales," She concludes- an evaluation of her chakra nature, Natsuki wonders? It's never occurred to her that she's never been able to discern the nature of her own chakra until then. However, Masami suddenly tilts her head to the side, an appraising look in her eye- and what she says next makes Natsuki freeze. "And an aged spirit. An abundance of Yin energy resides in your chakra, Natsuki-chan. Be careful to not let it consume you."

"Aged?" Hiroki speaks up before Natsuki can formulate a response beyond her shock. "Is that normal?"

"I've seen cases like this in my lifetime. The Uzumaki have always been known to possess strong souls. Some choose to cling to the world and reform anew- a rare occurrence, but not unheard of."

_Oh, if only she knew._

"I see." Natsuki somehow manages to keep her voice steady, though it doesn't stop her from twisting the hem of her shirt between her hands. "Is that why it's been so hard for me to control my chakra?"

"Perhaps so. It should not be something you wouldn't be able to overcome through practise." The reassurance is nice, but Natsuki bites back a sigh at the prospect of more training. She's already struggling with the tree exercise, having fallen off or been thrown back countless times already- so much for hoping she'd be the next Sakura and be able to shatter rocks with her pinky by the time she turns ten.

A hand lands on her head, ruffling her hair and earning a half-hearted glare from her in response. Hiroki merely laughs at her disgruntlement, before he turns back to address Masami once again. "I'm glad you think so, Masami-sama. Looks like our shōko won't be signing any contracts just yet."

"You already knew I wasn't going to make it," Natsuki grumbles, only succeeding in making Hiroki's grin widen even more. Leave it to her grandfather to dangle a shiny new treat in front of her eyes as a way to get her to work even harder. Honestly, it's annoying that he treats her like some kind of overeager puppy. It's even more annoying that he's kind of right.

"I suggest perfecting your training, shōko. Hiroki-chan is not known for leniency, even despite his own lack of discipline." Masami sounds amused as she adds in her two cents, and this time Natsuki audibly groans. Of _course_ her grandfather would be the 'as I say and not as I do' type.

"Alright, I'll work harder," Natsuki relents with a huff. She doesn't like having to wait, but well, the fruits of hard work and all that. She just hopes she won't have to pull a Naruto and leap into a canyon to get her summoning to work- there aren't any ravines in Waves deep enough for that.

With another crackle of laughter- softer this time than the last- Hiroki smooths out her hair before finally lifting his hand from her head. Natsuki instinctively reaches up to pat it down herself, all the while peering up at her grandfather, who lowers his head towards Masami in a gesture of respect. "That's our cue to go back to training, then. Masami-sama, we thank you for your time."

The tiger tilts her head slightly in response to Hiroki's greeting, a shallow purr resounding from within her chest. Her golden eyes flit back to Natsuki's, and the girl quickly ducks into a bow again out of pure reflex. The soft rumbling quickly evolves into something tinged with mirth, and Natsuki can't help but blush. She's just trying to be nice! What's so funny about manners?

"I will see you again, Natsuki-chan." Masami murmurs, her voice low and still bearing that edge of amusement. "Perhaps by then, you shall be ready to surprise me once more. I should very well hope so."

Natsuki doesn't get a chance to think of a reply to that before the tigress disappears in a cloud of chakra smoke, leaving her to wonder if her words shall ring true.

* * *

Souji Arikawa is the Ōnami's right hand man, as well as one of the founding members of the council of Waves, having served as both friend and advisor to Ayano's own father. The man's son had passed from the same plague that had taken the first Ōnami as well- a terrible disease that had only been alleviated upon the creation of a cure and vaccine with aid from Konoha's own medical corps. That was ultimately the incident that placed Ayano in the position of leader as she demonstrated her diplomatic prowess, strengthening ties with the Land of Fire and averting the crisis that could have decimated their lands.

The era before Natsuki's birth had been one of great mourning for all of Waves- everyone had lost someone dear to them, and Souji especially had lost his best friend, his wife, and his son. Little Tatsumi had been the one thing that had survived the tragedy, giving Souji the will to continue living even in the face of his loss. It was only several years after Ayano's rule as Ōnami that he finally returned to the realm of politics to aid her the way he had for her father, and Ayano had been all too grateful for the aid during her rise to leadership.

Perhaps it is this long, heartfelt connection that the two of them have that encouraged both parties to introduce the children of their respective families to each other. A sense of hope that this long-time friendship would live on in the future, nurturing a cooperation that would someday benefit their homeland and everything that awaits. For a while, Natsuki is content with having Tatsumi as her only real friend- the older boy is smarter than the other kids her age, and thus is more bearable than the rest of the playmates her parents try to set her up with, most of whom are her age or younger. Getting along with Tatsumi is easy, even if their conversations aren't yet particularly deep or meaningful.

Natsuki only begins to realise Tatsumi's presence has spoiled her when she's enrolled in kindergarten, and immediately resents the curse of rebirth as she's surrounded by the squalor and cries of children. It's not that she particularly dislikes children, but as a child herself now, unable to escape and dodge their nosiness, they're… unbearable.

It doesn't help that a bunch of them have taken to ooh-ing and aah-ing over her compass, and have decided to beat her over the head with questions and constant pestering at every available opportunity.

"It spins so fast!"

"What do you think your soulmate looks like?"

"Woah, mine's never spun like that before."

"That's so freaky. Why is your compass all pointy on this side?"

"What if you never meet your soulmate, ever?"

Natsuki can only grin and bear it, even as her patience wears thin with each question thrown her way. Just because she doesn't understand the novelty of having a soulmate doesn't mean she has any right to shut down the innocent curiosity of other kids. In fact, it is through her entertainment of these ceaseless questions that she meets a new friend on her second week of kindergarten.

"Why do they keep on coming back here?" The mutter comes from somewhere to her left after she'd finished answering another interrogation from a group of girls who had been going on and on about the kind of person they hoped their soulmates would be. Natsuki had only been half listening to the conversation before they'd finally left, feeling a breath of relief leave her lungs as they did. Turning around, she sees a girl with her hair done in pigtails, huddled up in the corner of the break room with her nose stuck in a book. "They're always so noisy."

"Tell me about it." When Natsuki readily agrees with the sentiment, the girl jumps and looks up at her, eyes wide with shock. Leaning back on her hands, Natsuki sighs and says, "I can't wait for them to find someone else to bug. It's not even that big a deal, you know?"

The girl still seems taken aback at being overheard, but she shoots Natsuki a strange look. "If you think so, why do you talk to them?"

"They'll grow tired eventually. I just don't want to upset the people I'll be schooling with." Shuffling a little closer towards the girl, Natsuki pulls her knees up to her chest, sporting her brightest grin as she says, "I'm Natsuki Hagiwara, by the way."

"I know that. You're the Ōnami's daughter." Oh, right- she's kind of a celebrity around here, strange as that sounds. The pigtailed girl fidgets with the page of her book slightly, looking up at her with wide hazel eyes that express the barest hint of caution as she says, "My name is Hatsume Itou."

"Nice to meet you, Itou-chan." Natsuki makes a few quick assessments- she recognises Hatsume as a student in her class, and from their height difference, she gathers that she's older by at least a year. She's also fairly certain that Hatsume's one of the better readers in their class, and a quick glance at the book she's clutching in her hands confirms that she's reading material that's above their supplied texts. Half of the class is still learning basic nouns and the alphabet, and while this story book isn't particularly complex, it's still of a higher level than the class standard.

Without meaning to, she also notes that Hatsume has a compass on her left wrist, and its arrow is moving steadily as it tracks the movements of her soulmate nearby.

"What sort of book are you reading?" Natsuki asks quickly, before the silence can drag on long enough to become awkward. She notices that the cover depicts an illustration of two men standing beneath a tree reaching towards the sky, with the sun and moon hanging over their heads. A circle of _tomoe_ patterns adorn the necklines of both men, and it doesn't take a genius to be able to put the pieces together.

"It's a story book my aunt gave me." Natsuki finally tears her eyes away from the book cover when Hatsume speaks again, forcing herself to focus on what the girl is saying instead of the thoughts- _jealousy love manipulation reincarnation_\- that flash through her head. "Do you… also like reading?"

Natsuki somehow manages to piece a smile together, using her hands to grip her knees and stop them from shaking as she says, "Yeah, I love reading! That looks way more interesting than what they're making us read in class- what's it about?"

"Well, it's one of the legends from the Continent. Have you heard the story of Indra and Ashura?"

"I don't think so. Who are they?"

For the first time since the start of the conversation, Hatsume's eyes light up as she recounts the- horribly inaccurate, Natsuki absently notes- retelling of the tale of the Sage's two sons. As she quietly nods along to the girl's summary of the story, Natsuki barely notices the time flying past as she engages in a conversation that, for once, _isn't_ about soulmates or compasses- and she begins to think that maybe the hellhole that is kindergarten will be a little more bearable.

* * *

In the corner of the Ōnami's office, Natsuki sits quietly on the couch with her notebook, pencil in hand as she carefully rewrites each of the new characters her grandfather had taught her that week. He'd begun teaching her fuuinjutsu basics not too long after she'd made some progress on tree walking, drilling the foundation of the complex art into her and having her practise drawing some of the basic hexagrams and commands.

She was too inexperienced with calligraphy to even think about using chakra ink, but she couldn't exactly drag out the ink and brushes to practise in her mother's office- especially when she's still learning all of this in secret- and so she settles on her recreating the patterns in graphite instead. Natsuki's actually taken to the fuuinjutsu lessons with great interest, finding the struggle of learning all these theories and turning them into something viable absolutely fascinating. Though these exercises seem boring, Natsuki makes the effort to burn the motions into her mind, intent on learning as much about the sealing arts as she can. The idea that she could use nothing but her blood, ink and a brush to make literal magic happen- from creating storage spaces in pockets of air to interdimensional portals that rip through time and space itself- draws her interest in a way nothing else in this world has before. Sure, walking on water and breathing fire is cool, but this? This is a _challenge_.

There's a knock on the door, and Natsuki looks up in time to see her mother's secretary- Kiyoko, was it? - peek her head in. The young woman shoots her a small smile as she catches a glimpse of her, before she bows towards Ayano to state her business.

"Daigo-san is here to see you, Ayano-sama. He says he has received news on the latest delay in shipments from the Land of Rivers." Natsuki recognises that name- that's the man from the civilian council, one of the representatives of Sector A who provides monthly updates on the income from the ships docking in their harbour. Or is he the one who keeps track of the tax revenues from foreign merchants in the market?

"Alright, send him in," Ayano replies, nodding towards Kiyoko in thanks as the latter retreats out the door. Pushing aside the file she'd been viewing- from what Natsuki can glimpse from here, she deduces that it's the latest report from the Budget Office. Her mother catches her stretching her neck to take a peek at the report, and only smiles as she casually places it far out of her sight and shakes her head. For her eyes only, it would seem- Natsuki sags in her chair in defeat, while Ayano smothers her laughter and puts on a more professional expression as her guest enters the office. A man with short, jet black hair steps into the room, clad in a simple blue shirt that only barely hides the obvious tan lines along his shoulders.

"Good afternoon, Hagiwara-sama." Deep brown eyes dart towards her, and a warm smile crosses Daigo's face as he inclines his head in greeting. "Natsuki-chan."

"Good afternoon, Daigo-san," Natsuki replies evenly, earning a startled chuckle from Daigo in turn. He's never had a reason to visit her mother's office while she's been in before, but it's nice to know that he's nicer than some of the others who have taken to just ignoring her presence. After all, no one expects a five-year-old to take an interest in politics- but Natsuki has never been one to conform to expectations.

As Daigo returns back to attention to relay the current situation to Ayano, Natsuki fixes her eyes on the pages of her book and absently continues her rows of hexagrams, only half-paying attention as she listens in on the discussion taking place. It's become a bit of a habit to eavesdrop on the conversations in this room, especially after the shinobi incident that made her parents paranoid to the point of keeping her within their sight at almost all times. It's probably made her more aware of the going-ons and politics of Waves than most regular citizens, but she figures that's the point of her being here.

Natsuki isn't blind to the deeper reasoning as to why her mother keeps her close by even as she discusses politics with the council members, and why Tatsumi is the playmate she's spent the most time with. It's no secret at this point that Natsuki is bright for her age, and her mother uses that knowledge to prepare her- after all, she _is_ next in line for the position of Ōnami.

Honestly, the notion gives her a whole bunch of mixed feelings. Autocracy is a whole can of worms she wants nothing to do with, especially considering the borderline dictatorial system all of the nations employ, but it puts her in a position where she can implement changes where she deems necessary. At the very least, Natsuki is grateful that Waves isn't subject to the monarchical dealings of the major countries- though she's all too aware of how closely the position of Ōnami treads along that line. Natsuki's familiarity with the principles of democracy makes her hands itch with the desire for change, but she knows such actions are a long time coming. The amount of planning and work it will take to inspire change is daunting, and she frankly has no idea just what it takes to rule a nation. She's led projects and cases in the past, but this is so much bigger than her and anything she's ever faced that even thinking about it makes it difficult to breathe.

A part of her urges her to hide, to merely push aside her ideals from the past and continue as things are- but then she remembers the events of the future, and suddenly her fear becomes secondary.

Natsuki thinks of the Waves she'd known in the past- a community of people with wills broken by the hand of a tyrant, who had not known the power they themselves held until one boy took a stand and inspired change. She doesn't know the consequences her leadership will bring if she takes the mantle, but she'd be damned before she's willing to watch her country and family be put at risk for one man's greed. Team 7 would just have to go find another ruined country to save, and it's not like there's a shortage of missing-nin for them to take on. Surely, she could afford to change just this one thing- the encounter with Zabuza and Haku hadn't had all that big an impact on the plot, sans some more team bonding and revealing Kakashi's capabilities, right?

...Gods, she _hopes_ so. If there's a higher being out there, she hopes they'll give her just enough enough room to move this one piece on the board around. Just one, and she swears she'll never interfere with anything else again.

"Then what should we do now, Ayano-sama?" Natsuki is brought back to the present when Daigo asks the big question. Ayano steeples her hands on her desk for a moment, digesting all the information that had been dumped on her, before she looks up at him with steel in her umber eyes. Natsuki slowly opens up to an empty page in her book, readying her pencil to take note of any new information she's about to hear.

When the Ōnami speaks, all of Waves falls silent to listen- and sooner or later, whether she likes it or not, that voice will become hers. It's her own job to make sure she's ready for what that will entail.

"We'll have to redistribute the local harvest to compensate for the delay. Get in contact with the agriculture department and Matsumoto from Sector C- we need to inform the local producers of the change. We'll arrange discussions with the civilian council by tomorrow. Report any problems you encounter to me by evening today, and I will see if they should be brought up at the meeting or handled separately. Is there anything else?"

"No, that should be all, Ōnami-sama."

"Very well, then. I shall hear from you again soon, Daigo-san. For now, you may be dismissed."

* * *

Natsuki doesn't think much of soulmates after her mother explains it all to her, content with just knowing what it means rather than agonising over who bore the mirror image of her mark. Though she does admire the delicate, wavelike swirls intermingled with the sharp, pointed edges adorning the outline of her compass, she doesn't really view it as much more than a very elaborate tattoo. She'd always wanted one in her past life, and so she's rather happy with this hand that fate had dealt her.

That perception changes somewhat when one day, her wrist twinges with such a sudden jab of pain that she hisses and loses her grip on the plate she's washing in the sink. The ceramic doesn't shatter- thank god, these are new and her mother would be_ so _disappointed- but makes a huge clatter as it falls into the sink, and Natsuki can only clutch at her wrist in shock. Quickly wiping away the suds on her hands, her eyes rove over her right hand to try and identify just what happened, but she's only met with confusion as she realises… she's completely fine.

"Natsuki? What happened?" Natsuki jumps as her mom's voice suddenly chimes in next to her. Before she can even turn around, Kaoru's hands are on her shoulders as she looks her over, concern written in the furrow of her brow and the narrowing of her eyes. Natsuki swallows as she notices the sparking sensation of her chakra that she hadn't before, anxiety and battle readiness radiating off of her at even this slight hint of danger. Upon focusing, she can feel the flash of her grandfather's chakra seeping into the floors and walls of the house as he activates the anti-intrusion seals he'd engraved from the living room, and she winces. That's… a bit of an overreaction, but she can appreciate the precaution.

"I'm okay- it was just my hand." Natsuki reassures her with only the slightest tremble to her voice- more out of bewilderment than anything else. "It was hurting earlier. I don't know what happened."

At that, Kaoru's stony expression drops off her face, and in its place is utter relief. Her shoulders visibly sag when she releases Natsuki's shoulders, and a soft sigh leaves her lips as she stands up to handle the rest of the dishes. Glancing at Natsuki, she says, "Wash off the soap for now, and go sit on the couch, okay? Your Okaa-chan will explain everything."

Hesitantly, Natsuki nods and does as she's told. When she sits down to listen as her family explains what's going on, however, she finds her concern slowly melting away, and in its place is utter disbelief. It would seem that her mother had forgotten to tell about the little... extra kick that came with having a soul mark.

Apparently, as if slapping a bunch of compasses that don't even _work_ up to a certain distance hadn't been enough, whatever higher being that had decided upon these laws of nature also decided that the physical pains one person experiences should be translated into similar sensations on their soulmate's mark as well. Ayano tells her that the pain is usually dialled down compared to the actual injury the soulmate receives, but it serves as a helpful indicator of how one's soulmate is doing on the other end of the line.

"So, that means my soulmate got hurt," Natsuki says slowly, watching the turns of her compass with a new light- one that isn't particularly pleasant. "And whenever they get hurt, I'll feel it?"

"That's right." Ayano nods, a sympathetic smile on her face. Natsuki takes a moment to digest that, considering the implications of this information, before she promptly decides that having a soulmate really _sucks_.

(Yet even as the sentiment remains, Natsuki would still find herself staring at her compass during the worst of her sleepless nights, and praying that the one on the other end would survive the wars to come.)

* * *

Her mom is arguing with her grandfather in the kitchen, and Natsuki can literally feel the tension in the air as their chakra signatures respond to their agitation. A part of her mind urges her to withdraw her senses and leave it be, but the less rational, impulsive side of her clamps down on that logic, and keeps her focused on the fluctuating energy coming from the two adults in the other room.

"She's not even six years old, Tou-san! What were you thinking?"

"Our enemies won't wait for her to grow old before they attack, Kaoru. The last attempt has proven that."

"How long have you been hiding this from me? What have you been teaching her?"

"I've only taught her how to harness her chakra for the basics. Already, she's showing signs of being an exemplary ninja-"

"She is _five_. You are not going to teach my daughter how to kill people!"

"She needs to learn to defend herself, and I don't regret teaching her how to do that."

Natsuki huddles closer the wall, getting as close as she can to the gap in her door to listen in to the argument between the two adults. She channels a thin stream of chakra to her ears to enhance her hearing as well- Hiroki would be mad if he knew she'd used such a risky technique without his supervision, but that's the least of her concerns right now.

Her teeth worry away at her bottom lip as Natsuki tries to push aside the immense guilt surfacing in her head. She'd started on the replacement jutsu that week, and she'd been making some pretty good progress. However, the gig had been up when she came home covered in dirt and playing with her chakra by sticking a bunch of stray leaves to her head- only to find that her mom had been back early. She'd promptly dropped all the leaves to the floor, at the same time that her mother's look of shock immediately turned icy as she fixed a glare on Hiroki.

Kaoru had calmly asked her to go and get herself cleaned up while she spoke to Hiroki, and Natsuki had quickly obliged. She doesn't think she's ever heard her mom sound so _angry_ before.

"I want her to have a normal life, Tou-san." Kaoru's agitation is palpable, and Natsuki can almost envision her running her hands through her short, wavy hair in frustration. "Teaching her our clan's secrets will only make her a target."

"She will be targeted no matter what we do or don't do." Hiroki sounds calm, but the twitch of his usually sedate chakra gives away his own exasperation. "This is for her protection as much as it is for our own peace of mind. This way, she will at least have a way to defend herself."

"So you would teach her to fear for her life at every turn?"

"I would teach her to survive long enough to see those turns."

For a moment, there's silence. And then, Natsuki hears the sound of the chair scraping the tiled floors of the kitchen, and the sound of someone slumping heavily into the seat.

"I just don't understand." Kaoru's words are quiet, and Natsuki can't help but flinch at the watery, defeated tone in her voice. "The war's over. They've already taken everything from us. What reason do they have to hunt us down now?"

"This peace won't last, Kaoru. I wish it wasn't so, but this is the way things are." Hiroki's voice is grave, and the spark of flame from his chakra is once again reduced to simmering cinders. "We can't be sure of what the future holds. If danger breaches our shores, the least we can do is prepare her for it."

Silence once again. Natsuki hadn't noticed when she'd started clenching her fists in worry, but she forces herself to relax when her short nails dig into her flesh enough to actually hurt. She rubs her face against her palms, trying to ignore the panic festering in her chest at the words being spoken. She'd been so happy to have been born in a land free from the wars of the shinobi nations, but now it seems that conflict will come for her no matter what. All because of the blood running through her veins in this body that she never asked for.

She remembers faces- _a man with the eyes of legend watching as his best friend dies in his arms, a woman weeping as she holds her new-born son close to her chest, a girl betrayed and left for dead by a trusted comrade_ \- and wonders if perhaps this bloodline is cursed.

"You will let me help and watch over her training." When Kaoru finally speaks again, Natsuki only barely hears her words. "But if she chooses to stop, you will cease all lessons immediately. We will not force her to live the way we did."

"Of course, Kaoru. I'm sorry."

After that, Natsuki pulls her chakra back from her ears and slumps against the wall, pulling her legs up to her chest as she rests her chin on her knees. She hadn't allowed herself to think of the implications of Hiroki's training, even as he taught her various kata and other offensive capabilities during their days off. She'd focused on the intellectual allure of what he taught her, feeding off her own curiosity and desire to learn how to use all the tools this new universe had presented to her, but she had ignored just why this sort of training existed in the first place.

This is a world where children die fighting in wars that adults begin. These methods exist because war and strife are so common and even expected to occur that this is the only way anyone could think of to keep everyone alive, and she is no exception. The world she'd known before this hadn't been perfect, but compared to this place- where masks of peace are repeatedly slapped over the shadows churning underneath, so fragile and easily broken by the whims of greedy men with too much power- it could have been paradise.

For the first time in years, Natsuki finds herself missing a home that no longer exists.

When Kaoru opens the bathroom door and sees her on the floor, curled in on herself and sobbing into her hands, Natsuki doesn't protest when she pulls her close. It doesn't make anything right, her mom's love alone cannot stop this world from spiralling into chaos- but it makes it better, even if by just the tiniest fraction.

For now, better will just have to do.

* * *

It's a bright, sunny afternoon that's somehow not too hot, a rare reprieve from the storms and cloudy skies Waves has seen for the past month. The weather only contributes to Natsuki's good mood, and she has to keep herself from skipping as she walks among the stalls set up in the market square, one hand in her grandfather's while grasping the hem Tatsumi's shirt loosely in the other. The boy had reached the ripe age of eight to Natsuki's five, and was thus far too dignified to be seen holding her hand in public, even if they'd known each other since they were in diapers.

The country itself was recovering from a rather nasty monsoon season, and several of their coastline residences had seen damage from the raging storms and seas. Apparently, things were so bad that they'd had to order a lot more materials than they'd expected, and the land administrative department had been drowning in paperwork for the past few weeks trying to get everything sorted. It didn't help that tensions across the Continent were still high, with mainland supplies being focused on other places that were being rebuilt after the war. However, Waves commonly sees a momentary peak in business right after their stormy seasons, and that makes for a more lively market scene than usual- one that provides a rather nice change of pace for its citizens after weeks of toiling through the whims of nature.

"Natsuki-chan, over here!" The sound of Hatsume's voice ringing over the crowd gathering in the marketplace draws her attention, and Natsuki is left squinting for a minute before she's able to make out the form of her classmate waving at her from beside a small fruit stall.

"Hey!" She waves back just as eagerly, finally dropping Tatsumi's hand to do so and ignoring the exaggerated sigh of relief she hears from him. Next to Hatsume is her soulmate, Yoshiko Furihata, her short black hair arranged in its usual mess of layered spikes and her hands loosely tucked in the pockets of her slacks. Akira is with them as well- Yoshiko's older brother has longer hair than she does and keeps it done up in a small ponytail, and his smile doesn't quite bear that same sharpness that hers does, giving him a softer appearance.

"You're late, _akagami_," Is the first thing Yoshiko says when they're finally within hearing distance, and Natsuki rolls her eyes at the nickname. The older girl had taken to the dub with fervour, and while Natsuki didn't mind, the way Tatsumi bristles at her side says that he still takes it as a slight on her honour. At this point, she's pretty sure Yoshiko calls her that on purpose just to see Tatsumi react- he's far too easy to work up when it concerns her, the overbearingly protective goof.

"This makes _one_ time, Yoshiko-chan. One time."

"It wasn't even our fault, either." Tatsumi grumbles, earning a sheepish, not-at-all remorseful grin from Hiroki as he waves at them cheerfully. He's standing off to the side to give them space to interact, but Natsuki doesn't miss the way his eyes rove over the crowds in the marketplace, constantly searching for any signs of threat. "Hiroki-ojiisan didn't know where he'd put his wallet."

"Well, at least we're all here now," Akira interjects, his calm words presenting an almost welcome interruption from the subtle tensions that had started to form. Shooting them a grin, he says, "The day is still early, so let's take our time. I heard there are some merchants all the way from Water this week."

"Oh, great! They always have the _best_ sweets." Hatsume enthuses, and Natsuki can't hold back a smirk when she sees Tatsumi's face light up at the prospect of getting his hands on some sugary goods. He then tries- and fails- to smother his excitement behind a cool facade when he turns to face her, clearly trying to seem disinterested.

"Natsu, you wanna try some of those? We can grab dumplings from Kentaro-san while we're there, too." Natsuki almost laughs at how convincing he sounds, but she decides to play along for now. With an enthusiastic nod, she all but leads the way through the crowds with her hand still clutched in her grandfather's. As the only adult and thereby the tallest in their little group, he's got the best vantage point to guide her out of the way of other, bigger people and clear the way for the rest of them. Like a gaggle of ducklings trailing after a tall, grey-haired guardian, they venture through the marketplace lines with rows and rows of vendors- both local and foreign- selling their wares. Several people- vendors and shoppers alike- greet her as she walks by, and Natsuki slowly but surely commits their names and faces to memory as she goes about her day.

She may someday have to lead these people- and even if she didn't, the least she can do is try to remember the ones who treat her with kindness.

After an hour or so of meandering about, Natsuki finds herself looking at a large array of teas laid out by a vendor from the Continent. Her grandfather is haggling for a lower price on a packet of jade ring leaves while she finishes up the last of her Kirin Nectar lollipop, when an awed cry from Yoshiko draws her attention to another stall nearby.

"Hey, you guys, check this out!" A glance over at where the older girl is standing shows that the others are already moving to gather around her, having been summoned by her call. Natsuki slowly peels herself away from her grandfather's side to do the same, putting her now-empty lollipop stick into her pocket- they really ought to set up more trash bags along the roads here- before trotting over to see what's managed to catch Yoshiko's attention this time. She isn't quite sure what she expects, but when she actually catches sight of what everyone's gawking at, her eyes widen in fascination.

The simple, yet elegant accessories aren't really anything special- they're mostly simple sets of cords that hold a single stone in the middle- but the gem itself is something else. The gemstone is smooth and polished, appearing almost crystalline in its opacity, but there's a soft pulse of light that's visible even under the bare shade of the stall's roof. Reaching out with her chakra sense, Natsuki has to really focus before she's able to discern that the faint blue glow is the result of minute amounts of chakra forming within the rock itself. The source of said chakra is miniscule, and she can only just sense its presence due to the outpouring of chakra it's generating- microorganisms, perhaps? Is it even possible for microbes to grow in solid states like that to begin with?

"They're so pretty." Tatsumi breathes, and Natsuki can only nod absently in agreement. His tone turns inquisitive as he reads the sign beneath the assortment of jewellery aloud, "_Nilavu_ stones?"

"I read about those before. They're harvested from the mines of the tallest mountains in Frost," Hatsume chimes in eagerly, eyes still fixated upon the soft luminescence of the gemstones on display. "They say old chakra is stored in these, from when the gods first walked upon the Earth. It's supposed to chase away bad luck and evil energies."

"Well, someone certainly knows her stuff." An unfamiliar, bemused voice bearing a heavy Lightning accent chimes into the conversation, making everyone but Natsuki jump in surprise. She'd already sensed the vendor's signature approaching them the moment they'd gathered to gawk at the lovely pieces of jewellery, as well as the faint misdirection genjutsu she'd cast over herself to conceal her presence. The woman's steel-grey eyes stand out distinctly against her sepia skin, and Natsuki doesn't miss the slight lift of her brow when she notices her lack of surprise at her appearance. However, it does little to deter the polite smile she wears on her face as she elaborates.

"All that you've said is true. They say the Land of Frost was the centre of the planet once, before the world was split into all its lands. The Tukka Mountains are said to be where the gods rest, until it is time for them to awaken again- that's where these gems are from."

"Are these even allowed to be mined?" Natsuki asks, curiosity colouring her voice. The vendor's eyes flit back towards Natsuki at her question, and she continues, "If the mountains are considered sacred, shouldn't they be preserved, instead?"

The woman's lips twitch slightly in amusement, but there's a genuine look of appraisal in her gaze when she answers. "Moderation is key, as always. The world doesn't stop its ways for the memory of sleeping gods- but we don't test their generosity, either." Her tone grows lighter as she says, "So then, would any of you be interested in buying one of these little charms- as a token of good luck?"

"O-oh. No thank you," Hatsume says bashfully, while the others make similar comments of refusal. "I don't have enough money left on me."

"A shame. Are you sure you don't see anything that interests you?" The woman's stare lingers upon Natsuki longer than they do on the others, and Natsuki isn't surprised when she says, "Perhaps a yellow stone to compliment that fiery hair. How's about it? I can give you a special price if you buy two or more."

Natsuki looks at the price listed, and purses her lips. She isn't one for superstition, but there _is_ substance to the myths of legend in this world- and if these really do chase away bad energy… maybe they could help with her nightmares. She'd rather like to be able to reach ten years of age without eyebags to match that growing number.

"How special a price are we talking about?" The merchant's eyes gleam with intrigue at the unexpected challenge in her voice, but before Natsuki can start getting down to working out a bargain, a quiet comment from Akira momentarily distracts her.

"I'm surprised you even have any money left after your dumpling spree." The seemingly casual observation earns him a glower from Natsuki- Akira has a talent for making even the most innocuous comment carry enough weight to make one pause, and the skill comes in handy when he talks down his sister or Tatsumi from doing anything reckless.

"I do have some modicum of self-control, you know." Natsuki shoots back- even knowing so, she does a quick mental evaluation of how much she has left after spending. Next to her, Yoshiko groans.

"Stop using big words. They're confusing," She grumbles. Natsuki is just about to reply with something about helping her expand her vocabulary via exposure, when when she hears the sound of something dropping to the floor.

Turning towards the sound, she's surprised to see that it had come from the money pouch her grandfather had just dropped- Hiroki never drops anything, ever, he's many things but not _careless_\- but she's far more worried about what she detects when she instinctively reaches out for him with her chakra sense. His chakra is surging, flickering – _hope disbelief it can't be_ – in a way that she's never felt from him before, and when his eyes meet hers, Natsuki sees a fierce determination there that she's not seen since the day he'd first started teaching her how to control her chakra.

"Jii-chan?" Natsuki asks, her voice leaving her lips in a cautious murmur. She can only watch as Hiroki pauses to sweep his pouch off the ground with a fluid grace that should have been unfounded in men his age, and in the next moment he's suddenly carrying her in his arms before she can even register what's going on.

"You all stay around here. I'll be right back." His sudden announcement catches everyone off-guard, and all of the kids exchange glances of mild alarm before they look back at him.

"Hiroki-ojiisan, where are you going?" Tatsumi asks- but by the time he does, Hiroki is already headed deeper into the sea of people ambling about the town square.

"Just _stay put_," He throws back over his shoulder, and Natsuki feels his hold tighten on her slightly as he skilfully dodges past the throng of people. With how frantically he's moving, Natsuki's surprised that he hasn't already taken to the roofs to navigate- though perhaps that would be an overreaction too great for even his taste.

She doesn't dare voice her questions as to why he's acting this way, abandoning the rest of the children he'd been tasked with watching over in favour of grabbing her and running like this. A dozen possibilities run through her mind as to what could have garnered this reaction, and Natsuki finds herself extending her own chakra sense around her like a security blanket in response to her own worry.

Scanning every signature that crosses her path, Natsuki begins to feel almost dizzy in her search for any potential dangers in the area. For a while, there's nothing particularly eye-catching in the crowd, until she hears her grandfather inhale sharply and feels him stop in his tracks- right as she detects the first set of signatures to actually stand out in her mind's eye. There are four of them, three smaller than the largest of the signatures, which feels like rumbling earth and solid rock that bears the promise of crushing all that stands in its way. Two of the smaller ones feel like burning fires, warm and strong and full of life.

The fourth… the fourth is closer to them than any of the others, coming from the young kunoichi standing before her and her grandfather with wide, lavender eyes. Her chakra feels like the ocean breeze against her face, the kiss of warm, summer wind when she opens her windows on a sunny day- and something angrier, ominous, lurking just beneath the surface. Natsuki can't quite move as she sees the headband proudly worn on the girl's forehead- that damned leaf symbol shouldn't make her tremble the way it does,_ damn it_\- but to her own numbing surprise, it's not the hitai-ate that truly strikes her deeply. It's the girl's hair.

It's red. The red of fire, blood and the passion. Vibrant, breathtaking- damning.

The red of the Uzumaki.

"Kushina?" Hiroki's voice is nearly a whisper, his face pale as he stares at the young kunoichi mirroring the same look of disbelief. Natsuki can feel the blood draining from her face as well- though for entirely different reasons. This isn't happening. No, no, absolutely not. This _cannot_ be real.

"Hiroki-jiichan?" The kunoichi's voice begins to crack before she can even finish speaking his name, her hands going across her mouth as she stares at Hiroki with wide, teary eyes. She takes a hesitant step forward, as if uncertain whether the sight before her would vanish like some cruel illusion, and Natsuki can only feel dread seeping into her skin as she realises that no, this is very, _very_ real. "But… it can't be- I saw you, when I left the island! You were supposed to be…"

"It's me." Hiroki's own voice is wrought with emotion, and if Natsuki had been able to tear her eyes away from the kunoichi in front of her, she would have seen tears brimming at the edges of his vision. Dropping to a knee, as if to reassure her he means no harm, he says, "Shina, it's really me. I'm alive."

Those seem to be the magic words- because in a single instant, all of the fearful doubt on Kushina Uzumaki's face is replaced with overwhelming relief. Choking back a sob, she ignores the protests of her genin team and sensei in favour of rushing towards Hiroki, who catches her in his arms all without once releasing his hold on Natsuki. The kunoichi clings to both Hiroki and Natsuki as if they were a lifeline in a sea that's pulling her under, her breaths ragged and tears streaming down her face while she embraces the last members of a clan that she'd thought dead. It should have been a joyous moment for the Uzumaki, one when Uzushio's beloved children are finally reunited under the same blue sky- but all Natsuki sees is angry orange and red against a blanket of stars, nine tails thrashing in the air while a baby cries alone on an altar, and everything turns cold.

With each ragged sob that Kushina heaves as she clutches onto the last of her family with all her might, Natsuki feels any resolve she had of staying uninvolved in the established fate crack across the surface- a mere prelude to the moment it would shatter into a million pieces.

* * *

AN: (ramsay voice) Finally, some canon character interaction.

Anyway, this concludes the end of the prologue arc! We've laid the foundations to move straight into the driving plot and we may finally see some actual kisame action in the next chapter at last. While I'm here, i'd like to say this is my first take on a lot of tropes and themes that I haven't really delved into with writing before, so if I accidentally make any mistakes or represent anything harmfully, please do not hesitate to inform me! I am still learning and I would gladly change any misinformed narratives should there be any!

In the next chapter- yall know it aint a shonen story without a timeskip babey


	3. Waking

Broken glass and fallen chairs litter the floor, surrounded by scattered papers from the small cabinet that had been thrown against the wall. A pool of ink gathers in a corner around a bottle lying on its side, the last drops of ebon dripping into the growing puddle and sending faint ripples across the surface. There are splinters of wood from where several jagged holes had been punched through the overturned table, and moving amongst the wreckage of the destroyed study room- spurred on by with the faint swirl of air from the circling ceiling fan- are long, wispy strands of carmine.

The trail of crimson grows more intense the closer it gets to its source- a mass of red tresses lying in a heap on the floor of the connecting bathroom. Next to the mess of shorn locks, back slumped against the wall and sitting almost completely still, is a seventeen year-old with hair that just barely brushes her ears and an elongated dagger with a wavy blade in her hands. The only sign of movement from her is the faint tremble of the exposed blade from how hard she's clenching its hilt, but there is only hollowness in her eyes as she stares blankly at the white walls surrounding her.

The letter at her side stays where it is, its contents forever unchanging no matter what she does or doesn't do.

Hours pass- maybe an entire day. The sound of the door to the study room opening doesn't make her do so much as flinch, nor do the quiet gasps and murmurs that fill the once-silent space. The voices- _familiar, so familiar_\- grow louder, the air shifts as someone kneels by her side, but the moment their hands reach down to touch her she flinches and pulls away, afraid and yet- not.

"Natsu." Static on her skin, a flash of silver and painful, painful violet. "Natsu. Please, put that down."

She can't. This is all she has left of-

"Natsuki, please." There's a glint of fire, and a warmth she knows deeply envelops her as familiar palms cup her face. "Look at me. I know it hurts, sweetheart. I know. But you have to come back to us."

Words form on her lips, but she doesn't hear them. She has no idea what thoughts make themselves known, but she finds she doesn't care.

"Don't say that." The hands are stronger, gripping her face with just enough pressure to make her aware of the strength in them. "Don't even try to make this about you. None of this was your fault, understand? You couldn't have stopped this."

"I saw it." Her own voice sounds unfamiliar to her- dry and raspy and nothing like it's supposed to be. "I saw it, and I told him. I did that to him."

"No, Natsuki-"

"I was supposed to _protect_ us." Something wet trickles down her face, caught by the hands that still haven't released her. Her already ruined voice is getting even worse, like something grating and broken. "Just us. I didn't want this."

The blade in her hands finally falls away, clattering against the tiled floor. Her own hands are now clutching at her face as she chokes on horrible, broken sobs, almost missing the way the second person in the room joins the first by her side and wraps their arms around her. Even as she's surrounded by people who so obviously love her, none of their comfort chases away the overwhelming, crushing guilt weighing against her chest, and Natsuki -_ her name, that's her name now, she's no longer_ \- wonders if anything ever will.

The burden of knowing the future is a difficult one to carry. On Natsuki Hagiwara's seventeenth year of rebirth, the cruel reality of that fate rears its head, and she swears it is one that she alone will bring to her grave.

The mood in the Furihata family's restaurant is lively tonight- more so than what one would expect beyond opening hours, at least. Natsuki takes in the atmosphere with a small smile lingering on her face, a cup of sake clasped between her fingers while her eyes roam over the faces at the table. Akira had closed up shop an hour ago, just before Yoshiko emerged from the back room with bottles of liquor that she'd saved specially for the occasion and immediately challenged Tatsumi to a drinking contest.

The twenty-one year old councilman had hesitated, but he had a penchant for being unable to turn away a challenge, and so had acquiesced to the birthday girl's request. Natsuki, upon realising where this was going, had thus decided to take it slow and watch the ensuing train wreck as it happened.

"You sure you should be drinking tonight, Natsuki-san?" Akira's smooth tenor reaches her ears, and Natsuki looks over her shoulder to see the young restaurant owner sliding into the seat next to her, along with his co-worker, Tsunami. He's eyeing the nearly-empty cup in her hands, clearly remembering her poor alcohol tolerance and the last time she'd gotten completely wasted in his establishment after-hours. She remembers waking up on Tatsumi's couch when said best friend had thrown a bucket of water over her head the next morning for being an idiot- the same bucket she'd used to completely rid herself of the previous night's dinner almost immediately after.

"Not at all." Akira shoots her a withering look, and Natsuki raises her hands in defence, putting on a look of feigned innocence. "I'll drink in moderation, I promise. I'm done with getting blackout drunk."

"Leave it to the future Ōnami to set a good example," Hatsume teases, earning an eyeroll from Natsuki as she takes another sip from her cup. Thankfully, she doesn't have to say anything to defend herself, as Yoshiko- already tipsy from her first few glasses- slings an arm over her soulmate's shoulders and interjects on her behalf.

"Hey, forget about all of that, akagami. It's my birthday, you don't have to care about any of those pressures here!" Despite the birthday girl's vehement words, Natsuki merely shakes her head with a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine, Yoshiko-chan. Someone's gonna have to drag Tatsu home after all of this." Right as she says that, Tatsumi takes the opportunity to finish his- fourth? fifth?- glass of beer with a grimace, gesturing to Yoshiko to take the next turn. Yoshiko swears quietly under her breath as she returns to the game at hand, muttering several indecencies about Tatsumi's heritage as she fills her glass again. They're the only two here who both enjoy and can really handle their drink, and it's always fun to see them try and one-up each other in a good old fashioned contest like this when they let their hair down.

"Shouldn't you stop him, Natsuki-san? It's still a working day tomorrow," Tsunami asks in a whisper, worry evident in her voice. She has a glass of juice in her hands that Hatsume had slid across the table to her, while Akira appears to be nursing a small cup of sake of his own.

"He's let me have my fun, so it's about time he gets a turn. Besides, he's had a rough couple of weeks since the last meeting." Her statement earns a quiet groan from Tatsumi and Hatsume both, and Natsuki grins unapologetically for reminding them of their most recent headache, even as she laments it as well. Tsunami, however, leans in with intrigue.

"What happened this time? I haven't heard anything from Otou-san yet."

Natsuki shrugs, taking a sip from her cup before she replies. "The draft for the rent control bill is meeting some opposition from the executive council. It's a bit of a mess, but we're trying to work out a compromise."

"_Trying_ to." Hatsume groans, looking at her glass of juice as though she wishes she'd taken something stronger. Natsuki can only pat her shoulder sympathetically- after all the number crunching Hatsume has had to do on her end, she has every right to feel dejected by the lack of progress.

"Then, why aren't you joining him?"

"I get to drink on Natsuki's birthday. Tonight's his turn." Hatsume replies easily, and Akira laughs at the arrangement they've clearly sorted out.

"Must be a pretty big deal if the council is opposing it. And here I thought you lot wouldn't be able to surprise me after that petition you started to pass that labour bill- I _still_ hear about it in the shop, by the way."

"Don't forget the bridge project," Tsunami adds, earning a mumbled sound of approval and a thumbs up from Yoshiko as she tosses back another glass. Natsuki winces- she's going to feel that one in the morning. "Otou-san got so excited when the council appointed him as the supervisor- not that he'd admit that to anyone."

"Yeah, the old man's allergic to showing any emotion that isn't disdain."

"Is that really how you should talk about your shishou?" Hatsume asks, raising an eyebrow at Tazuna's most brilliant and favourite student- at least, according to Yoshiko herself. Natsuki can somewhat believe that, seeing as how Yoshiko had virtually hounded and begged the old man into finally taking her on as his apprentice before she even got out of school. Tazuna is far too prideful to ever call Yoshiko anything but a nuisance, though- even if she has proven to be one of the most innovative architects Waves has seen.

"He can dish out the insults, so he can take it." Yoshiko shrugs, clearly unaffected. When Tatsumi finally raises his cup to his lips again, her lips curl into a scowl, and she hisses, "Dammit, Arikawa. You don't know when to quit."

"Don't start a fight you can't finish, Furihata." Tatsumi counters easily- to any untrained eye, he seems to be the epitome of composure. To Natsuki, however, the slight tremble of his fingers as he lowers his glass is indicative that he's breaching the line between tipsiness and full-blown drunkenness. Figuring that now would be as good a time as any to get her thoughts out in the open, before all sane conversation is lost to babysitting the two drunkards at the table, Natsuki decides to speak.

"In any case, everything we've been able to do has taken a group effort. All of us here- we've all contributed to something bigger than any one of us could have done on our own." Glancing over to every one of her friends at the table, a small, genuine smile rests on her lips when she sees that they're all looking at her attentively. She hadn't meant to sound so serious, but her gratitude is genuine- were it not for Hatsume and Tatsumi's work in their respective departments, or Akira's network amongst the villagers, and even Tsunami and Yoshiko's influence amongst their peers, none of the efforts they've made would have had the impact that they did. The success of the first petition has given the people access to a voice they did not have before, motions have been passed for the improvement of labour and immigration laws, and these smaller feats have opened the door to so much more.

"It's only thanks to all of you that we've been able to make so much happen. For that, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart."

There's a moment of silence as everyone digests her genuine statement of gratitude, before Tatsumi puts a hand to his lips, his eyes wide with surprise. "Is that gratitude I hear from our resident princess?"

"Shut the hell up, Tatsu." Natsuki pokes him none too gently in the gut, earning a satisfying grunt from Tatsumi moments before he bursts into laughter. The rest of the table follows suit, with Yoshiko throwing her arm over Tatsumi and complimenting him on 'losing the rose-tinted shades' and 'taking her down a peg'. Natsuki rolls her eyes and ignores the subtle pokes at her character- she knows it's all meant in good fun, and that alone won't stop her from getting sappy every now and then. The alcohol is a good way to make sure they're all too busy getting over the hangover as punishment for their teasing, anyway.

"You're just lucky we like you enough to see all of this through with you," Hatsume jests, nudging Natsuki in the side. Natsuki just snorts at that, raising her cup to Hatsume's and clinking them together.

"I'll toast to that," she says cordially- moments before Yoshiko slams down her empty cup and stares at Tatsumi with a challenge burning in her gaze. Some of his usually slicked back, ebon hair is falling into his green eyes, and his stare darts from the cup in his hands to Natsuki's own sake cup, and his lips curl into a frown. When he reaches for the sake jug next, everyone else at the table emits a groan of defeat as they realise where this is leading- namely, a pit in the depths of hell called Hangover Central- but otherwise, they let the two adults continue on their little contest without much protest.

A small smile plays on Natsuki's lips as she watches her friends merrily chatting long into the night, content with just being there with them and revelling in the carefree energy of the celebration. At the end of it all, she does end up helping Tatsumi get back into his flat when he tries opening the front door with a toothpick he'd smuggled from Akira's, before finally making her own way home under the peaceful lull of nightfall, a pleasant buzz in her ears from the alcohol and the sound of cicadas and owls echoing from the nearby forests. It's a quiet night in Waves- there have been many of those since the end of the war three years ago- and Natsuki breathes it all in. There's the salty tang of the ocean carried on the breeze, the faint smell of incense from the little altar set along the road to the apartment complex, the cold touch of moonlight against her skin- and she smiles.

It's good to be alive.

* * *

There are screams in the air, hundreds of distorted voices calling for her blood as she runs through the bone-white forest. Natsuki's breaths leave her lips in short, heavy pants as her feet carry her through the woods, not once pausing to consider where she's going or what she's running from. All she knows is that whatever is chasing her is out to kill her, and if she stops for even a moment, it will catch up to her and finish the job.

"Come on, let's play for a bit!"

"Kill the intruder!"

"Stop running!"

Even as her heart races in her chest and her lungs burn with exertion, Natsuki finds herself feeling eerily composed as she navigates through the dark forest, moving with a singular purpose in mind under the cover of nightfall. She's clutching something in her arms, a small bundle that's wrapped in cloth and hidden from sight, and though Natsuki has no idea what it could be, she still carries it with care- like it's something fragile and precious. Something that she needs to keep away from the thing that's chasing her. A treasure to be protected at all costs.

When the pale, bare trees begin to thin out, Natsuki feels a surge of relief as she reaches a seemingly empty clearing in the middle of the forest. She only allows herself to slow down as she crosses an invisible threshold that she somehow knows is there- and when she finally lets herself fall to the ground to catch her breath, she hears the sound of a hundred footsteps stampeding towards her, feeling her hands body tensing in preparation for the onslaught. She knows it's safe here, but still…

Natsuki turns to look at the treeline she's left behind her, only to see the first of the monsters emerging from the shadows. Creatures with unnaturally pale skin begin to approach at a cautious pace, their lips pulled back to reveal vicious fangs while their yellow eyes glow with the promise of murder. Several of the creatures are bigger than the rest, gigantic monstrosities with multiple heads and their bodies fused together like they were made out of clay, unnatural structures protruding from their forms like large sets of teeth ready to consume any that get in their way. Again, Natsuki knows she should be frightened- and yet, all she feels is a steady calm.

"You should have stayed out of this," One of the creatures closest to her hisses. Despite knowing how outnumbered she is, the words of the beast make her scoff.

"Yeah, well." Natsuki finds her lip curling into a vicious smirk as she spits, "Maybe you should take a word of your own advice, you nasty old relic."

The monster makes a terrible, gurgling growl and surges towards her with its army- but almost immediately they recoil as they all make contact with the wall of light that appears between them. Natsuki didn't know when she'd sent her adamantine sealing chains into the ground to erect the barrier, but it's strong- stronger than any she's ever made before.

(This is when a small part of her mind realises this isn't actually real. She's never been good enough at creating barriers to make something this powerful.)

"Don't even think about it." Natsuki growls lowly as she holds her treasure closer to her chest, anger and an almost twisted sense of joy at seeing the creature wail as the large sealing trap she'd laid out over the ground finally activates at her command, lines of chakra ink wrapping around the creature and the rest of its counterparts. She can feel herself losing strength rapidly as she expends the last of her reserves, but she refuses to let her barrier fall as she hisses, "He's _mine_."

"Cheater!" Another one of the monsters- one of the few with the multiple faces- thrashes against the seals, none of which do even the slightest bit of damage against the restraints. There are flashes of black and red and green outside of the barrier, and Natsuki swears she can make out the forms of countless individuals attacking the immobilised army. In a disjointed voice, it cries, "You cheated! The Fox was supposed to be _ours_!"

"Kurama belongs to no one." Her eyes fall to the bundle in her arms, and Natsuki hears her voice soften as she says, "And someday, people will understand."

"No!" The creature is helplessly cut down by the onslaught of people hacking it to bits, unable to withstand the onslaught of jutsu and sheer numbers being thrown at it. Its voice begins to shift into a gurgling, incomprehensible mess as it cries, "You bastard! You'll pay for this!"

"Uzumaki-san, we're ready." Suddenly there's another voice, and a trio of the strange, blurry-faced individuals are gathered around her. Natsuki feels a sense of heaviness weighing down upon her, as though finally coming into the clear only to be met with the terms of a terrible truth.

Looking down at the treasure she'd been protecting this whole time, she reaches a hand up to push aside some of the cloth covering it- only to reveal a small, pink face bearing whisker-like markings and a crown of fine, almost white-gold hair. Natsuki finds herself running a finger along the slumbering baby's face, as if willing herself to remember every detail about this precious child at that very moment, never once lifting her eyes from the treasure in her arms even as she nods and gives the faceless men her okay. Leaning forward to press a kiss to the baby's forehead, Natsuki feels warm wetness trickling down her cheeks, even as a bright golden glow envelops her in its grasp.

"_Someday, I know you'll-_"

Natsuki doesn't get to finish her sentence before she jolts awake, hands clutching at her chest as her heart throbs painfully in her chest. The sudden movement has her gripping at her head as a wave of nausea and dizziness overcomes her senses, the aftereffect of a night of drinking compounding the remnants of her night terrors. Without pausing for even a second, Natsuki reaches over her bedside and grabs the bin she'd placed there before emptying the contents of her stomach. She stays that way for a good minute, allowing herself to be absolutely sure that there's nothing else that wants to exit her system, before she finally sags against the headboard, grabbing a tissue from her bedside table to clean her face.

As she simply sits there on her bed, head throbbing and throat completely parched, Natsuki allows her mind to wander off towards the menial things on her list. It's an automatic response she's cultivated when confronted with a sleepless night like this, and all she wants is to forget the images her mind can conjure. It's almost five in the morning, which means she's gotten a grand total of three hours of sleep since she'd gotten home from the celebration last night- that's going to be great for the bags under her eyes. She's got two hours to get her ass into gear and out into the forest for training, an hour after that to clean up and get to her office, and hopefully Tatsumi is feeling better than she does because _oh gods, she's really feeling that last glass and her head is killing her._

Natsuki gets onto shaky feet as she stumbles towards the bathroom, already sorting through more of the day's tasks and focusing on the day before her- all while the memories of her nightmare slip away like sand through her fingers.

* * *

There's the sound of her adamantine chains shattering as Kaoru spears her own chains through the links, and Natsuki is forced to release the jutsu with a hiss. Before she can even recover from the shuddering feedback of having her constructs broken, she's already dodging her mom's quick strikes at her person, only narrowly avoiding the last swing she makes with her training sword as she uses a substitution on the rock near the riverside.

Natsuki hears the solid _thunk_ her mom's bokken makes as it slams against the granite, wincing as she realises how close she'd come to getting a particularly nasty bruise, before she picks up on a distortion of chakra in the air around her. Shifting her hands into the tiger seal, Natsuki flares her chakra to disrupt the genjutsu attempt, only to be caught off-guard as she notices a movement to her left. Dodging under the massive paw that swipes at her head, Natsuki doesn't have time to curse the sneaky tigress that had slipped past her senses when said animal lands on her front paws and spins around, using the momentum of her hind legs to sweep her off her feet.

Natsuki only just manages to stop herself from rolling into the water as she tumbles to the ground, her head spinning from being thrown literally ass over teakettle by the unexpected attack. Even through the haze of her dulled senses, she can feel her mom's chakra settling down as she straps her bokken to her back- it looks like lessons are being cut short for the day after that miserable performance, thank the gods. Pulling herself to her feet, Natsuki is met with woeful amber eyes set in a feline face- Keiko, the tigress who had been the one to knock her down, whines slightly as she rubs herself against her leg, clearly remorseful for having taken her by surprise.

"How's your leg, boss? Was that last kick too hard?" Her words are spoken in the Eastern derivative of the common Continental tongue- the mother tongue of the Land of Whirlpools. Natsuki finds herself reverting to the same dialect as she replies, rubbing the young summon behind her ears in reassurance.

"Don't worry, Keiko. I'm alright." Natsuki had dislocated her ankle almost a year ago during an inspection of one of the factories- the accident having involved a few spooked horses, a convenient timber load, and her being in the wrong place at the right time. The ensuing injury had been troublesome- she'd decided on recovering naturally instead of resorting to the healing techniques of her clan- and it had impeded her training for the longest time. It seems that Keiko remembers, and Natsuki feels guilty for making her think she's done something wrong when it was her own inattentiveness that had left her open.

"You seem distracted today, Natsuki-sama," Meiko comments as she approaches her with slow steps, and Natsuki huffs. Of course she would have noticed- Meiko is the genjutsu master of the twin tigresses, and is far more perceptive towards her opponents' reactions in battle. Before Natsuki can defend herself, however, her mom chooses that moment to clear her throat, calling her attention back to her as she does so.

"Alright." Kaoru gestures towards her stomach, shooting her a wry look. "Let me see it."

Natsuki groans, while Keiko slowly slips away from her hands and plops down next to her sister. "Kaa-san, it's fine."

"I know. I just want to see what you've done this time," Kaoru replies evenly, her tone bearing no inflection yet somehow leaving no room for argument, either. Natsuki blows out a huff of air in exasperation, making several stubborn strands of hair that had fallen out of her hairband float off her face, but starts rolling up the hem of her training _gi_ anyway. When she reveals the three-hexagram seal painted in ink over her stomach, Kaoru moves closer to get a better look, finger hovering just slightly over her skin as she reads the web of commands connecting the seal.

"Well, the displacement construct looks stable. The lines aren't opposing your nature, either- so why were your chains so flimsy?"

"...I drank a little last night. The seal's messing with my chakra." Natsuki's quiet confession quickly wipes away any worry from Kaoru's face, her mom's lips curling into a smirk as she finally withdraws with a chuckle. Natsuki pulls a face at the obvious lack of sympathy for the remnants of her hangover, but her mom just flicks her forehead affectionately.

"I've told you to be careful with alcohol when using a stomach seal. You know you already can't handle your drink."

"Kaa-san…"

"You don't smell of alcohol, though?"Keiko points out curiously. She's taken to lounging on the forest floor now, while Meiko absently paws at the circlet of beads around her neck.

"It was only one cup." When Kaoru raises an eyebrow, Natsuki has the decency to look a little sheepish as she corrects herself. "Okay, maybe three-" Four. "-but it was barely anything! I have to go to work today."

"This." Her mom points at her stomach, before she redirects her pointer finger towards her head. "Affects this. Remember the basics, Natsu- the body and mind must be in agreement with the seal. Even the slightest disruption can weaken the commands of a self-placed seal."

"I know." Natsuki sighs at the lecture- she's heard the repeats of all her fuuinjutsu lessons multiple times at this point, but she keeps her mouth shut and appreciates the refreshers anyway. Who knows when they might come in handy? "I might have gotten a little carried away. It was a fun night."

"You should have told me. I would have given you the morning off today." Here, Kaoru's eyes soften slightly, and even her voice lowers as she asks, "Any nightmares last night?"

Natsuki shrugs. "Nothing too bad." A small, white lie- but not quite. Her mind has conjured up worse images, and the Yin energy dispersal seal has already helped reduce her night terrors by a fair bit. Drinking is one of the few things that can make her dream of anything these days, since the seal basically reduces her regular bouts of dormant spiritual activity to zero- a few conscious hours of numbing her mind slightly while awake almost aren't worth the resulting terrors, but that hasn't stopped her yet.

Kaoru doesn't give any indication that she suspects Natsuki's lying, merely nodding as she gestures for Natsuki to join her while she heads towards the spot where they'd left their belongings. Once she's entered the shade of the trees and away from the glare of the sun on the riverbank, Natsuki sighs as she plops down on the floor without hesitation, lying against Meiko who has settled at her back. Her brain feels a little more like mush after being hit with the tiger's genjutsu onslaught during the fight, but at least it isn't so bad that she's throwing up again.

She feels a tap on her shoulder, and reaches out to take the water canteen her mom is offering her without even opening her eyes, a murmur of thanks on her lips. Natsuki can see Kaoru's outline clear as day with her chakra sense as she settles down in front of Keiko right next to her, and from the way her chakra doesn't quite settle down, she knows her mom has something to say even before she opens her lips.

"Yura-chan came to visit me the other day." The topic is surprising enough that Natsuki slowly pries her eyes open, listening intently as her mom speaks. Kaoru's shoulder length locks- an uncommon shade of silver instead of the Uzumaki's crimson- are tousled by the slight breeze that blows by, and she pushes it out of her eyes as she continues, "She asked what subjects she should focus on before enrolling in the police academy. She seems pretty set on wanting to join the force."

"What did you tell her?" Natsuki asks, carefully suppressing her chakra to avoid showing any sign of worry. It doesn't make much of a difference- Kaoru isn't a sensor the way that she is- but she's gotten so used to keeping a grip on her chakra that it's become almost second nature.

"I answered her honestly. Told her it would be a lot of hard work, and she should probably start thinking on which department she'd be interested in working in." When Kaoru answers so casually, Natsuki finds her grip on her chakra relaxing slightly. She's relieved that her mom hadn't been yet another person to dissuade Yura from her ambitions. Natsuki had only been a part-time teacher at the local middle school for a short while, but having taken the effort to personally engage with the young, but headstrong child, she'd found herself supporting her dreams for the future fervently.

It's just frustrating that it had taken her until then to realise just how many of Waves' occupations still haven't made themselves quite accessible to others like Yura.

"Did she have one in mind?"

"She told me she wants to join the patrol squad." Natsuki smiles at the answer- Yura had always explained how much she loves the outdoors, and while patrol duty may get repetitive outside of rare moments of excitement, it's better than cooping up her free spirit in a cubicle. "She's really thought this through. I just hope the instructors will take to the notion kindly."

The morose look on her mother's face has Natsuki sitting up a little straighter. "Haven't the sign language classes for the MPs already started?"

"The intended purpose was for communicating with civilians. Having an officer use it to teach students is new, especially when most of us only know the basics." Kaoru rubs a hand over her face, clearly lost in thought. "I'm not sure what the others will think until the time comes."

"Well, what do _you_ think about it?" Kaoru's gaze fixes itself on her again at the question, and Natsuki can see her genuinely sifting through her thoughts for an answer. Natsuki drums her fingers idly against her thighs as she waits- if she doesn't distract her hands with something else, she'll just end up ruining the hem of another good shirt. She's had all sorts of discussions about her ideals and plans with her family members even before she'd started working on the council to help run the country, but this question is on a smaller scale. She's asking for Kaoru's opinion as a ranked member of the police force, not what she thinks these movements are doing for Waves.

"I think," Kaoru says slowly, before a slight smirk pulls on the corner of her lip. "We could do with opening our doors to new changes. I'll do my best to keep an eye on Yura if she joins up."

"_When_ she joins up. Let's face it, there's no stopping her once she's made up her mind." Natsuki corrects with a chuckle, feeling another swell of reassurance within her chest as Kaoru snorts quietly and settles back against Keiko as well. She's relieved that her parents and her see eye-to-eye on many of her opinions- not all of them, sure, but it's better than all the flak that many of the old coots on the council give her. Some days it feels like most of them would rather have the Shinigami itself come for their heads rather than implement any changes to their comfort zones, especially at the behest of a 'child' like herself. Perhaps age has made them forget that Ayano had only been about five years older than she is when she'd inherited the mantle- and that's _without_ the extra years that Natsuki has accumulated mentally.

Not that they know that, of course. No one did, except-

"Say, Boss." Keiko suddenly speaks up, a sliver of genuine curiosity in her voice. "Is it just me, or is your compass moving slower?"

Natsuki blinks at the interruption, before looking down at the compass on her left wrist. It looks the same as always to her- its needle forever spinning in a spiral that never ends. Useless piece of junk.

"Dunno. I don't pay enough attention to tell," Natsuki replies honestly. Meiko turns her head to shoot her a strange look out of the corner of her eye.

"Shouldn't you, though?" The tiger asks, and Natsuki scoffs. Like she has the time for that after nineteen years of staring at this thing with no progress whatsoever.

"I've got other things to be worried about besides a broken compass. No offence, Kaa-san," She quickly adds. Her mother merely grunts at her remark- she's heard Natsuki dismiss her soul mark so many times in the past that she doesn't try to change her mind anymore.

"In all seriousness, Natsuki-sama, it does look like it's moving a bit slower than usual." Meiko stresses, her own eyes now fixed on the ebon compass. Perhaps the tigers can see something in the turns of the needle better than she can, what with their incredible vision. She isn't inclined to argue with them on this, though.

"Maybe." Natsuki relents, taking another swig from the water container as she finally averts her gaze. It doesn't matter in the end- she used to pay more attention when she was younger, but after the war, it just became a secondary worry as she finally started training properly to become her mother's successor. There had just been too many other things to worry about, especially after...

Natsuki bites the inside of her cheek as she runs a hand through her hair- it's been a while since she last cut it, and it's almost touching her shoulders again. A part of her wants to take out one of the kunai sealed beneath her practice arm guards and hack at the thick, overgrown mane of red there and then- but the rational part of her mind tells her that it can wait until later, so that way she can contain the mess and avoid having her mom stare reproachfully at her for her lack of self-control.

Her eyes flicker towards the woman sitting next to her again- Kaoru has her eyes closed as she lies against Keiko's back, the large cat purring as she scratches her under her chin. Natsuki smiles at the sight, automatically reaching to do the same for Meiko. The twins are the youngest of the tiger clan, having been born about ten years ago- the same year that Natsuki had signed the contract herself. They'd grown together with her, honing their own specialties while training alongside and against her, and she loved them dearly- even amongst all the other tigers she's come to meet over the years.

Though Natsuki sometimes laments that she can never truly bring them to their full potential, having tied them to a non-shinobi like herself, she finds herself grateful more than anything else- after all, this way no one has to senselessly die fighting the battles of other men. Here in Waves, all is safe, and she wouldn't trade it for anything else.

Closing her own eyes for a moment, Natsuki takes another deep breath and reaches out to grasp her mom's hand. There she lies beneath the cover of leaves and sunlight, warm spring air dancing against her skin, and allows herself to bask in this treasured moment of peace.

* * *

"You're joking. He actually showed up to the office? Even Yoshiko-chan had to get Otou-san to let her have the day off!" Tsunami's voice bears nothing but awe as she clears another table, having to throw her voice over her shoulder at Natsuki who sits at the counter. Furihata's is packed to the brim at lunchtime, as usual, and all the staff members are too busy handling the flow of customers to entertain too much small talk.

"Forget that- I don't think she's even left her room since I last checked." Akira whistles lowly as he ties off the packet of noodles in his hands, along with a bag of milky-white soup to go with it. "Tatsumi's really something else with that iron stomach of his."

"He's not entirely free of suffering, though. Hatsume's been making the effort to be _very_ clear with her announcements the whole day." Tatsumi had looked like he was ready to hurl something at the loudspeaker on the wall the third time Hatsume cheerily tuned into the PA system just to provide some barely-important update from her department, and Natsuki smirks at the memory. When Akira hands off her takeaway order to her, she gives him a curt nod of thanks and asks, "Are we still on for dinner tomorrow, by the way?"

"Tsunami-san already made the reservations." Said woman shoots them both a thumbs up as she walks towards another table to take their order, and Akira winks playfully at Natsuki when she gets to her feet. "Don't be late, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah." Natsuki dismisses the comment with a discreet, but crude hand gesture that earns her another bark of laughter from Akira. A grin of her own lingers on her lips as she leaves the restaurant, offering pleasant greetings with some of the customers that she recognises along the way.

The raffia ties of her takeaway lunch are hooked over the fingers of one hand, and she takes to the streets at a brisk place, humming a song unfamiliar to this world as she does so. She's in a surprisingly good mood today, even as she's still feeling the slight effects of her hangover in her throbbing head and sore joints- and perhaps that's why she'd made her first mistake of overlooking the chakra patterns around her.

Natsuki only realises that a pair of signatures have been trailing behind her when she's two blocks away from the Ōnami's office, and as she slows her steps slightly, she is careful to keep her own chakra flowing at a natural pace even as her heartbeat quickens. Suddenly hyper-aware of the number of people are milling around along this path, and how her reserves are running lower than she'd like compared to her stalkers, she considers the situation. The chances of an attack in broad daylight among so many are low, but the crowd also provides an opportunity for any shinobi worth their salt to slip in and out without even blinking, and she could be dead in seconds.

A worst-case scenario, perhaps- but after everything that's happened over the past few years, she'd expected an attempt on her life at some point.

Even in the light of the afternoon sun, Natsuki feels cold as she places a hand over her stomach, using the smallest pulse of chakra necessary to release the seal- if it comes to a fight, she can't afford to have her control compromised. Once she feels the effects of the dispersal seal subside, she almost immediately feels her senses sharpen with the removal of the block on her core- it'll be a pain to remake that seal, but that's time she's willing to spare. Finally slowing to a stop along the side of the road, she turns around with a small smile on her lips, trying to seem as casual as possible when she faces the duo who have been following her for the past few minutes. The man and the woman approaching her seem harmless, and they look to be exchanging words with each other casually enough, but Natsuki's not fooled.

She knows her home and its citizens well, and she's never seen these signatures before. They're too strong to be regular civilians, with shinobi-level chakra that's difficult to place- not quite jounin-level, but she would say they've got stronger reserves than the regular Konoha chuunin. Just who are these people?

"Can I help you?" She asks politely, quickly assessing the two strangers. They're both rather young, possibly a year or so younger than she herself is, and while the woman is a petite thing clad in pale grey travelling clothes, the man is taller than Natsuki by a good head- and that's a little impressive, given that Natsuki only misses six feet by a couple of inches. They don't seem nervous or surprised at catching her attention- but it's hard to tell what they're feeling even with her chakra sense. They've both got excellent control over their chakra if this is nonchalance is faked- none of it seems forced; it's as if they really are just casually intrigued.

"Yes, we actually have a question." The woman speaks first, a somewhat sheepish smile on her face. "It's our first time here in Waves, you see, and we were hoping you could give us a hand. We've gotten a little lost."

The question is innocuous enough, but Natsuki maintains her distance as she gives a courteous nod. "Yeah, that can happen sometimes. Where are you headed to?"

"We have a ride to catch on the Southern docks. Could you tell us which path to take?"

"Sure thing. From here, you just need to head back into town and walk downstream of the main river, and then when you come across the pharmacy on your left…"

For a moment, as Natsuki relays the appropriate directions without either of the strangers reacting suspiciously, she begins to think that maybe her suspicions are unfounded. Maybe these guys are retired shinobi who are just passing by? Yugakure had just undergone its demilitarisation, after all- these guys could be stragglers who have decided to travel the world now that they're free. Perhaps she'd been too quick to judge them, her paranoia running high after that nightmare of being chased in the dark.

Natsuki's second mistake is dismissing her sore, aching joints as the aftereffects of a few drinks. It isn't until she finishes her sentence that she is struck by how much her neck hurts, and she absently rubs at her nape when she feels something long and thin sticking out the base of her neck. That's weird, when had- _oh, shit_.

Natsuki stumbles backwards in shock as soon as she realises what's happening, suddenly all too aware of how lethargic she's feeling. A sedative, maybe? Hell if she knows. The expressions on the faces of the strangers are stoic, unmoving even as she comes to realise exactly what they've done, and Natsuki's immediate train of thought is to take to the rooftops and lose them. However, the man beats her to the chase, using a _shunshin_ to intercept her path before she can take so much as a step.

The moment she opens her mouth to call attention to herself, the woman darts forward and jabs another senbon into her neck, and Natsuki's world turns dark.

* * *

It was supposed to be just another regular day. She would have her morning workout, rest a bit before heading off to work, and then retire to bed with little fuss. A stress-free day when the only things she would have to worry about are last minute meetings with the council and influxes of paperwork to review.

She wasn't supposed to find herself here. Not kidnapped by a bunch of shinobi.

When Natsuki finally pries her eyelids open again, it takes her a good long moment to remember what happened through the absolutely mind-numbing throb in her skull. Her first instinct is to panic, and she immediately tries to move her hands to push herself up- only to find that they have been tied behind her back and that her feet are bound, too. Realising she's been rendered immobile, Natsuki forces herself to reel in her emotions, trying to assess the situation to see what her options for escape are.

Her cheek itches slightly from the where she'd been lying against the ground, and her left arm is feeling particularly sore from where she'd been lying on it for- hours? It's possible, the lack of sunlight and almost complete darkness enshrouding her indicates that it's nightfall, when she distinctly remembers having been intercepted early in the afternoon. She can feel the chakra of her captors behind her, and though she's certain they've noticed her awakening, the agitation in their respective signatures tells her that they were possibly arguing just before she'd started stirring. She'd turn to look at them, but Natsuki instead remains on her side, eyes squinting into the thicket of trees and shrubbery in the forest beyond. She needs to get her head on straight again- and staring at the nuke-nin who had successfully abducted her in broad daylight would only distract her.

Besides, this way they might think she's still incoherent after being knocked out like that. Given how she can still feel her head pounding inside her skull, she'd probably believe she wouldn't be moving for a while, too.

Her wrists itch against the grainy ropes that keep her hands tied behind her back, and as her captors slowly return to speaking amongst themselves- convinced she isn't going to start causing any problems- Natsuki does a quick self-check. She isn't foolish enough to believe her shinobi captors would have left her bindings half-assed, and she knows she couldn't possibly undo them even if she could without alerting them. They hadn't gagged her, but without her hand seals, she's no good for any orally-expelled jutsu. Besides that… her reserves are running on half, at least. The dispersal seal on her stomach had slowed her chakra replenishment by a good deal for half the day, and she'd used up quite a bit on training earlier, even if the lesson had been cut short.

Nothing about this situation is optimal, and Natsuki curses her luck. Still, her dwindling hope doesn't stop her from channelling a stream of chakra to her ears as she clarifies her hearing, trying to get an idea of what has her captors so worked up. Even in a potential life or death scenario, there's something to be said about knowledge bearing power- and navigating her life as the Ōnami's successor has trained her to snoop very discreetly.

"Everything we've heard checks out so far. This is definitely the one he told us about."

"But will Orochimaru really be satisfied if we hand over some girl who only _might_ be an Uzumaki? How do we know that man isn't just setting us up?"

"What other choice do we have? You gonna waltz into a Hidden Village and steal one of their clan members?"

A ringing starts up in her ears as soon as Natsuki is able to compute what she just heard, and the panic she'd so carefully tucked away start bubbling beneath the surface of her composure once more. _Orochimaru's_ the one these goons are trying to sell her off to? Natsuki had already guessed that these ninja were trying to get into another village's good graces by offering her as a sacrificial lamb, but the Snake Sannin? Natsuki's hands flex as she helplessly tries to pull against her bindings again- _bodies cut open, a thirst for power and knowledge, prisoners forced to fight to the death in his search for the most powerful host -_ but it's no use. She can't escape like this, but she can't let that madman get his hands on her.

The damage he would be able to do if he extracts the knowledge in her head may just be worse than anything she could possibly imagine. She can't let that happen- she _won't_. With that single denial pushing her forward, Natsuki gradually pulls herself together again, taking deep breaths to try and calm down. She can't afford to panic, not when this may be her only chance of escaping her fate. She just… she just has to think of something. She's good at that.

"Hey, calm down. Maybe if we can find that guy again-"

"Are you kidding? He'd kill us himself if we go back now! Listen, we've already committed to this, so let's just get to Oto and finish the job."

"But don't you get it? Once we're in, we're in this for life, Jiro! How can we be sure he isn't going to kill us anyway?"

"I… he won't. We'll be his only source of inside information, he's not going to just get rid of us."

Natsuki finally steadies her breathing, running through some of the options she's managed to piece together in her head. She already knows damn well she can't outrun a ninja, so that leaves two choices. She can give up here and allow these traitors to give her up to Orochimaru for whatever sick experiments he can come up with- or she can resist, fight, and maybe die in the process of doing so.

The choice is obvious. Eternal silence would be preferable to anything that madman would put her through- and she would not give anyone, especially him, the satisfaction of tormenting her. Not when there are still things in this world she wants to protect.

"I should never have listened to you. We could be walking right into a trap!"

"We can argue about this later!" The woman's voice finally snaps, and from the weight of her footsteps, Natsuki can tell she's stomping back to retrieve her. It's now or never. "Right now, we need to get a move on, so just shut up and bear it."

She can feel the kunoichi approaching her back in her mind's eye, and Natsuki makes sure she keeps very, very still. The moment the woman gets close enough and is just about to grab her, Natsuki channels all her chakra in her centre, moulding it into chains that burst out from her back and spear through the kunoichi right as she starts to bend down. She doesn't need to look to know she's hit her mark- the woman's chakra jumps in shock for just a moment before it begins to sputter out after the fatal blow- and Natsuki desperately ignores the unpleasant memories that surface at the sound of tearing flesh and breaking bones. Extending her chains even more, she quickly swings them at the second shinobi- but she's just a bit too slow with her follow-up, and she can sense as the man leaps back and out of her range just as the chains spear into the ground where he'd been standing.

Natsuki curses, but she recovers and immediately goes for her next course of action. Taking advantage of the opening left by the shinobi's surprise, she retracts her adamantine chains, dropping the body of the kunoichi before she sends the extensions of her chakra into the ground. Erecting a barrier without her hand seals is difficult, especially as she struggles to maintain control necessary to do so, but she manages to form a weak shell that would buy her the time she needs to make her next move.

As the second shinobi begins to recover from his shock, Natsuki sinks her teeth _hard_ into her bottom lip, gathering and spitting the welling blood onto the ground. Twisting her body around, she prays to every higher being and more to hear her as she throws herself backwards onto the spot, her hands stinging as they come into contact with the bloodied dirt. Still, her hand is touching the blood- and that's all she needs for the black seals to spread out from beneath her palm moments before her weak barrier collapses under the force of an explosive tag.

_Kuchiyose-_!

The familiar cloud of chakra smoke erupts beneath her as her summon calls forth its intended target, who appears with a growl and almost tosses Natsuki to the side with its sheer mass. Kazuki is quick on the uptake, and without her even having to say anything, the tiger makes quick work of her bindings in two clean swipes before turning immediately to face the shinobi full-on. Her hands and legs finally free, Natsuki quickly joins her summon companion on her feet, turning to properly look at her kidnappers for the first time.

At some point during her abduction, her captors had changed out of their travelling clothes in favour of the standard shinobi gear. The man is wearing a headband bearing the carved steam wisps of Yugakure, a gash across three lines- so, she'd been right on that guess, at least. Natsuki warily watches the missing-nin as his dark eyes dart between her, the armoured tiger next to her, and his dead companion. A flurry of emotions flash across his face, before it finally settles into cold outrage as he makes the hand seals for a shadow clone.

"You'll pay for that, bitch." She feels the sharp whip of his wind chakra as it flares with killing intent, but Natsuki staunchly refuses to react to it. Her head is still in a bit of a mess, but she's got Kazuki, and her hands are free. She can do this, and with that thought in mind, she moves to strike in favour of a reply.

The first minute or so of battle has her feeling- not good, but certainly confident enough that she actually stands a chance of winning. Natsuki's speed has always been her strong suit, honed by years of practice against her jounin-level teachers, and it comes to show in how she's able to dodge the combination of jutsu and weaponry the Yuga-nin hurls at her. Without any weapons of her own on hand, Natsuki keeps two adamantine chains permanently drawn, using the bladed ends to parry and counter the ninja's own katana. He's skilled, however- enough that he's able to keep up with both her and Kazuki tag-teaming him, and neither of them succeed in landing a blow or dispelling his clone. Each strike he makes is parried and countered, only for her own attacks to be blocked or dodged in turn. Even as she manages to sneak in an Air Bullet jutsu at one point, he'd brought up a wall of wind of his own to dissipate the oncoming projectiles. Natsuki is almost glad that she'd managed to do in the kunoichi with such a cheap shot before- if it had been a proper two-on-two, she has no doubt that she'd be dead.

It's a horrible thought to have, especially in the face of her first real kill, but she pushes aside the guilt for later, when she's not fighting for her life. When she's ready to confront the mess that she carefully keeps under wraps. Always, always later.

However, there's just one advantage the ninja has that Natsuki and Kazuki don't- and it's ultimately what costs them. Natsuki hasn't really trained alongside Kazuki in combat before, having only summoned him because he puts the least amount of strain on her chakra- but that means neither of them are particularly used to working in sync in a proper battle scenario.

So, as the ninja's shadow clone distracts the tiger and Natsuki holds her own against the Yuga-nin, she doesn't see it coming when the shadow clone body flickers behind the original and forms the hand seals for a Wind Blade jutsu.

With both her chains tied up in defending against a flurry of slashes that the Yuga-nin is throwing at her, Natsuki only catches the tell-tale surge of chakra from his clone before she disengages and dodges at the last possible second. Her reaction is just a moment too slow, however- she feels the jutsu slice into her side right as she uses a substitution on a distant patch of grass, and she gasps at the sudden, blinding pain. When Natsuki lands on her knees against the ground, hands clutching at the injuries she's sustained, it takes all her strength not to scream as her fingers slide against the deep wounds that have entrenched her skin. She can feel the blood gushing from the wounds, the most severe of which had only just missed her vitals, and she can only think about how lucky she is that she isn't dead yet.

Even as she's momentarily distracted by the agony, Natsuki doesn't miss the trail of chakra connecting to the tree trunk next to her as her enemy attempts to use a replacement to get close again. Clearly, he hasn't caught on to the fact that she's a sensor, and with a scowl Natsuki pre-emptively lashes out with her chains- just in time to spear the shadow clone straight through its body. Finally- one down, and just one more to go.

A yelp of pain has her spinning towards Kazuki once more, her feet already carrying her forward on instinct alone. The man had somehow sent her tiger flying into a tree, but Kazuki recovers quickly and leaps back into the fray, claws and teeth slashing and snapping at the ninja while Natsuki lets her sealing chains drop, waiting patiently for an opening. Seeing a chance to attack when Kazuki catches the ninja's sword in his teeth, Natsuki replaces herself with a rock by the ninja's feet and drops low, chakra burning at her fingertips as she strikes at his legs with her palm. The ninja narrowly dodges the brunt of her attack, foregoing a chance to attack the tiger in favour of keeping his leg- but her fingers still manage to brush against the bandages wrapped around his ankle, and that's all it takes for the paralysis seal to wrap itself around the limb. The ninja stumbles over himself when his leg suddenly stops responding to his command, and that is exactly the break that Kazuki needs. The tiger's claws sink into the flesh of his shoulder with a sickening squelch, and the Yuga-nin howls in pain as he drops to the ground, only narrowly evading Kazuki's teeth clamping down on his neck as he once again uses a replacement jutsu to escape.

From the other side of the small clearing, Natsuki can see the furious glint in the shinobi's eyes as blood seeps into his clothes from his ruined shoulder. His killing intent nearly doubles in pressure, but Natsuki stands firm and glares back at him evenly as she readies herself for another exchange of blows, trying hard not to let her legs shake from exhaustion that's starting to show through. The gashes in her side are impeding her movements more than she'd like to admit, and her reserves are starting to run low- she'd already been tired out after her training, and the fact that these clowns had abducted her before she'd had the chance to eat does little for her plummeting energy.

But she won't die here, she _can't_. She has to attend Yura's graduation, Hatsume and Tatsumi are counting on her to push for that programme they'd been working on, she needs to tell her parents how much she loves them and- _there's someone else here_.

Natsuki registers the feeling of something amiss even before she hears the crack of a branch snapping underfoot, the jarring sound immediately forcing her to rip her eyes away from her opponent. It's deathly quiet all of a sudden, and even the movements of the rogue shinobi halt along with the rest of the forest. He'd stopped his advance the moment he'd heard the sound, and his wild eyes are darting around blindly, looking into the trees that surround them for the source of disruption. Natsuki can't help but do the same- but instead, her eyes follow the outline of barely concealed chakra amidst the treeline with a newfound sense of trepidation. Whoever's here, they're... circling them. Waiting- but for what?

For a moment, there's absolutely nothing, save for the beating of her heart in her ears. And then Natsuki hears the scream before she registers the source of the foreign chakra appearing right in front of her.

When she turns back towards the shinobi, Natsuki doesn't realise what exactly she's witnessing right off the bat. It's the jarring, grotesque sounds accompanying it that snap her out of her momentary stupor, and when she finally understands what she's looking at, she feels her stomach flip over. She thought seeing a limp body hanging over her cradle had been traumatising, but this... this is beyond any macabre nightmare she could possibly have envisioned.

The hulking creature embedded deep in the crook of the man's neck makes an odd squelching sound as its numerous scales move in wave-like motions, digging deeper into the flesh. The sight of the man's face, twisted in terror as his body goes limp and pale would have been horrifying enough, only- that's a _weapon_. One that radiates chakra in a way that Natsuki has never felt before. It's a mishmash of all sorts of jarringly different energies that's almost sickening just to linger upon, held together by something ravenous and very much _alive_. It's ozone and typhoons and breaking waves and fresh soil and- and the dry, whispery chakra of the man it has just killed, seeping out from the corpse and sucking it dry.

It's... monstrous. Nauseating- and it's wielded by an owner who is somehow almost as big as the sword itself.

As she watches the black-clad swordsman yank the monster sword free of the rogue's corpse, a part of her can't help but marvel at the sheer strength of this stranger- even as the sight of ruined flesh and exposed bones sears itself into her memory. She's so stunned that it's hard to do anything but stare, even as Kazuki positions himself between her and the newest threat and braces for battle.

When she focuses her senses on the swordsman, it's a mistake Natsuki immediately regrets. A choked gasp escapes her lips as she nearly stumbles backwards, only just barely keeping herself upright upon being hit with the sheer impact of the chakra flooding her senses. Now that they're not intentionally concealing their presence, she can feel just how massive the stranger's reserves are- building waves as tall as skyscrapers and slumbering whirlpools that could pull her under on a whim. Natsuki has never pulled back her chakra sense so fast before, the whiplash from doing so making her already aching head throb with a new jolt of pain, and fear seeps into her bones as she is forced to acknowledge just how outmatched she is here. The newcomer looks at her then- and that's when Natsuki truly feels her heartbeat stop in her chest.

There's absolutely no way this is happening.

She'd been shocked enough by the horrors of everything that had just ensued, and yet _this_\- this single moment is the one that actually strikes pure, unadulterated fear into her veins. Despite every alarm in her head going off and her most primal instincts blazing with the urge to _run_, she's somehow able to meet that unearthly stare whilst her blood turns to ice in her veins. She recognises the symbol of Kirigakure on his slashed hitai-ate, and recalls a character in a story from her time before all this madness. No one else could have a face like that- pale blue skin and an impossible combination of shark-like features on a human visage.

Of all the people in the world that she could encounter, Natsuki never once considered the possibility of Kisame Hoshigaki.

Immediately, Natsuki's eyes flicker back towards the bodies of her captors, and she swallows thickly as she realises just how soon she could join them if this goes wrong. "I don't suppose you're here to collect these traitors," She asks, trying her best to appear unaffected by his presence- not that it helps any. She's probably radiating fear, even as she tries and fails to quell her chakra.

"Who are you?"

That... is not a response she'd expected. Natsuki stares at the giant of a man before her, trying to gauge just what he's after by asking such a question, but finds herself coming up short. Instead of trying to lie her way around it, she decides to come clean- shinobi could probably smell lies a mile away, and she may be a politician, but she's nowhere near good enough to deceive the likes of them. The last thing she wants to do is piss him off by trying to do so.

"I'm the daughter of the Ōnami of Waves. These men believed me to be a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, and attempted to take me hostage." Her wrists still burn from the chafing of the ropes earlier, and it's making her uncomfortable, but she forces herself to remain still as she awaits Hoshigaki's response. His strange eyes are impossibly bright under the darkness of night, and it's impossible to read his expression.

"What is your name?"

Natsuki is so surprised by the follow-up question that she actually blinks in surprise. "What?"

"Your _name_." The Kiri-nin repeats, something like mild exasperation leaking into his tone at how she had failed to understand such a simple question. Natsuki eyes him warily, trying to figure out just what game he's playing at by throwing such strange queries at her, but answers nonetheless.

"Natsuki Hagiwara," She says slowly, and she detects a waver in Hoshigaki's signature- relief? That only makes her even more confused, and the long silence that follows her answer doesn't help either.

Natsuki's about to lose her patience and chime in with a clipped '_this is usually where you tell me yours_', before the itch on her hand makes itself known again, this time with such fervour that she has to hold back a wince. Finally caving in, she rubs absently at her wrist, still not quite daring to look away from the Kirigakure no Kaijin's piercing gaze- however, the sentiment is clearly not shared. Instead, Hoshigaki's eyes are suddenly drawn to her hands at the movement, his expression unreadable. Natsuki opens her mouth, undoubtedly to make some sort of remark about how she's not stupid enough to try and attack him, but Kazuki suddenly interjects with a hiss.

"_Shōko_. Your mark." For a moment, Natsuki doesn't make the connection, nor does she comprehend the urgency in Kazuki's voice.

That's when she glances down and sees it. The black ink of the eternally spinning compass etched into her skin- but it's not the same sight she's grown used to. Instead, the needle is now perfectly still, balanced on its axis without even the slightest sway- and it's pointing right at the shinobi in front of her.

Natsuki doesn't move. She can't even if she wants to, for she swears her heart has suddenly stopped functioning along with her mind and maybe her eyes too, because there is absolutely no way this is happening. She doesn't even think about glancing at Hoshigaki as her eyes remain fixated upon the compass, the needle stilled in a peaceful balance that it's never been in before. There's no doubting now why he'd been able to find her in the middle of nowhere, why he'd looked at her like that and asked such odd questions. His wrists are covered, but she doesn't have to see to know that the exact same compass is on his right hand, down to every minute swirl and pattern. Every instance that she's felt her compass hurt ever since she was young, the increased moments of pain during the wars that made her realise her soulmate is a shinobi- it all adds up. This is her soulmate.

Her fucking_ soulmate _is_ Kisame Hoshigaki._

"Are you really an Uzumaki?"

Slashed hitai-ate. Black cloaks and crimson clouds. Red hair on a withering man and a monstrous statue from the age of gods. Natsuki is immediately shaken from her momentary stupor at all the images that single question brings up, and Kazuki shoots her a glance as he senses her sudden tension. Forcing herself to remain neutral, because _think about this later, it isn't safe yet_\- Natsuki tears her eyes away from her soul mark and focuses upon Hoshigaki with a calmness she doesn't really feel. "What's it to you?"

There's a hint of teeth revealed behind the twitch of his lips, a faint echo of the broad, taunting smile she remembers drawn upon a caricature of Hoshigaki's face from a lifetime ago. This lopsided baring of jagged teeth is tentative, as if it's something born out of habit more than actual malice.

"Call it curiosity. I'm wondering if these nuke-nin were on the money with their assumption, or if they were just deceived into chasing lost legends." He reaches out with his foot to kick at the mangled corpse on the ground, and Natsuki deliberately keeps her eyes focused on Hoshigaki when he doesn't look away, either. "Though, you clearly aren't just any ordinary civilian, Hagiwara-san."

The blood drying on her palms start to flake off as she rubs her fingers together, carefully considering her options. She has no idea how to approach this situation, or what the consequences of her answers will be, so she decides on playing neutral. "Let's say that I was. Why would I confess that to a shinobi who might just be after me for the same reasons as these two?"

Hoshigaki raises an eyebrow, before gesturing towards the Yuga-nin. "I just killed one of them for you."

"You might have done it so you could claim the credit for abducting me instead," Natsuki counters, which only succeeds in making his grin broaden. She has no idea what's so funny about what she said, but she doesn't get a straight answer.

"Those chains you used weren't just any old parlour trick. Remnants of Uzushiogakure's lost techniques, right?"

Kazuki growls, his voice low and menacing as he reverts to common Continental. "You have no right to even _breathe_ that name, Mist scum."

"Hold on." Natsuki places a hand on Kazuki, stilling the tiger from doing anything reckless. With narrowed eyes, she asks, "How would you know that?"

Hoshigaki shrugs. "There were one or two of your kind in the war- they had the same hair." There's a gleam of… _something_, in those inhumanly bright eyes as he says, "It's hard to forget the kind of damage those chains can do. The red at least makes for a particularly bright target."

It's basic knowledge to never turn away from a potential enemy when they're in front of you. The very first rule of battle, in fact- and yet Natsuki ignores that ingrained lesson in favour of turning her eyes away from the Mist-nin before her, painfully forcing down the fury and despair that crawls up her throat. Even Kazuki is growling wordlessly again, and this time Natsuki doesn't calm him. "So, you killed them."

"It was them or me." Despite the almost condescending way in which he says that, Natsuki senses the barest flicker of chakra within him before it settles immediately. It's hard to tell what that means, but Natsuki wonders- is that... worry, that she detected? "You feel more upset about a few strangers dying than the possibility of having your compass go grey?"

Natsuki has to bunch her hands into Kazuki's fur to prevent the wildcat from reacting- and to prevent herself from saying anything thoughtlessly. Hoshigaki is saying it like it's nothing, but his momentary lapse in control is a giveaway. This question means something to him, and how she answers here is important. Slowly, Natsuki says, "Blood is all that's left of my clan's legacy. To feel its loss in any capacity hurts, especially when so few of us remain."

She takes a breath. A part of her wants her to answer in a way she thinks he might want to hear- passive, forgiving, unoffended- but it's silenced by her stubborn, stupid pride. She's seen too much suffering in the eyes of her family to simply let this slight on their- on _Uzushio's_\- honour go unaddressed. With that, she looks back at Hoshigaki with narrowed eyes, her voice level as she says, "Kirigakure already took part in the alliance that slaughtered my predecessors once before- I think you'll understand if I'm upset at the notion of you finishing that quest."

Hoshigaki takes just a second too long to reply- a barely noticeable difference, but Natsuki is far too aware of everything right now to let even the smallest detail slip. "You think I'm here to kill you, then?"

"I don't know what you're here for," She confesses, somehow maintaining the steadiness in her voice despite the fatigue slowly creeping up on her limbs. Her head is starting to feel light from all the blood she's lost, yet she forces herself to remain steady. "But we both know that if you really wanted me dead, that's what I'd already be. So no- I don't think that's what you're going to do."

There's a long pause, during which neither of them avert their gaze, gauging each other's response. Tension is almost bleeding into the air- Hoshigaki never lowering his weapon, Natsuki gathering her chakra within her core in preparation for an attack, Kazuki's muscles taut with anticipation. Neither of them make a move, however, and the chakra in the air is almost stagnant to her senses.

Then, Hoshigaki's grin slowly returns to his face, exhaling a soft huff before he finally looks away- and Natsuki quietly releases the breath she'd been holding. He then shifts his hold on his sword and hooks it back on the strap crossing over his back, Samehada settling against his back with surprisingly little fuss. The obvious gesture of non-aggression slowly unfurls a coil of worry that had been wound tight in her core, and Natsuki finds herself relaxing slightly despite her better judgement.

"Well, you're certainly not what I expected, Hagiwara-san."

His light-hearted, almost teasing response makes her exhale a short, surprised laugh. However, the moment of amusement quickly dissolves when the action jostles her wounds and turns her laughter into an abrupt hiss. Without the rush of adrenaline fuelling her, the pain is enough that it makes her vision go white around the edges, and when Natsuki doubles over and clutches her side she finds her shirt soaked in blood.

Goddammit. She'd almost forgotten about that.

"Shōko!" Kazuki only just manages to support her body as Natsuki drops to a knee, suddenly aware of how weak her limbs are and how tired she feels. The stress of battle, piled onto her earlier fatigues hits her all at once, and Natsuki shakily clutches at the hinges of Kazuki's armour in alarm as she realises just how much blood she's lost. A low whine rumbles in the tiger's throat as he takes note of her injury, and she can hear the tense underline of desperation in his voice as he asks, "Do you have enough chakra to heal yourself?"

"I don't know." The wounds are deep, and she's not sure how much it takes to actually heal even minor wounds. Her mom has warned her about the risks of using this technique, and death by chakra exhaustion isn't the way she wants to go out, but it's better than bleeding out in the middle of... shit. Where even _are_ they?

Her vision is going hazy. This isn't good.

"That looks bad," Hoshigaki comments- and suddenly Kazuki is growling again. Natsuki can only guess that the nuke-nin had tried to take a step towards her, and the summon had reacted unfavourably to the assumed threat. His movements are surprisingly quiet for such a large man- just more proof how deadly shinobi can be.

"Not another step."

"She's bleeding out. Unless you have a way to heal wounds like that, I'm the only one around here who can be of any help," The Kiri-nin fires back, and Natsuki can _hear_ the scowl in his voice.

"And why would you ever want to aid us?"

"Listen, _cat_-" Before things escalate into a full-blown argument between the two _idiots_ who are ignoring the fact that she's _dying_, Natsuki interjects with a question directed at Hoshigaki.

"Do you have any soldier pills on you?" Her voice is weaker than she'd intended, but the cutting edge in her voice is enough to get both Kazuki and Hoshigaki to stop and listen to what she's saying.

"Only the C-grade stuff," Hoshigaki replies after a pause. C-grade... that sounds familiar. Natsuki vaguely remembers her grandfather explaining the shinobi medicines to her years ago- she's pretty sure S-grade productions are the high quality ones that could give a boost that lasts days, but she's not sure where C-grade products fall along the line. The lowest, maybe? Those were only good for small bursts, right?

"That'll be enough," She coughs out, and Hoshigaki takes a knee as he removes the scroll attached to his hip. Natsuki slowly lowers herself to the forest floor while he unseals his equipment, and Kazuki appears conflicted as he hesitates between standing guard or sitting down so that she can lie against him. Petting his front shoulder, Natsuki waits for Kazuki to turn his gleaming eyes on her before she says, "Kazuki-san, it's okay. Please, I need those."

The tiger does not look pleased as his eyes flit between her and the missing-nin, who has already withdrawn a small package and is shaking out several of the round pills within. A rumble echoes deep in the confines of his chest- soft enough that Natsuki can only tell because of the gentle shudder running beneath her palm- before he finally, slowly settles on his haunches. He's still positioned so that his front paws are between her and Hoshigaki, claws out and ready to attack at the slightest provocation, but Natsuki doesn't comment on it. Instead, as Hoshigaki steps closer and drops the small, brown spheres into her shakily extended palm, she focuses on the task before her.

As soon as she bites down on the pills, Natsuki nearly gags at the horrible, almost rancid flavour that hits her tongue. Still, she forces down the reflex urge to spit them out, and swallows them with effort, already feeling a slight boost to her meagre reserves. Before she can linger upon the horrible taste on her tongue- and maybe gag again- Natsuki then raises her arm to her mouth and sinks her teeth into her flesh.

Next to her, she hears Hoshigaki's sharp inhale- clearly, he had expected her to pull out some sort of fancy medical jutsu instead of committing some strange form of self-cannibalism, but she doesn't stop to explain things. Instead, Natsuki closes her eyes and remains fixated upon the warm, almost liquid sensation flooding into her mouth as she pours her chakra into the wound, feeling the effects in her side almost immediately while the rest of her body stiffens in response to the drain.

Natsuki's only ever needed to use the Healing Bite once in her life, and that was when her mother had taught her how to use it on a small cut on her finger. The reason she doesn't rely on it for most of her injuries is simple- the process is _agonising_. Forceful chakra drainage in any form is uncomfortable in theory, but when it's literally being sucked out of her coils through a single, concentrated point? If she had to describe it, it feels like a very unpleasant blood donation with a hundred needles sticking into her skin, and instead of a mild discomfort, the drainage actually pulls against her blood vessels and _stretches_. The anime had failed to depict how the coils throughout the user's body literally turn blue-green beneath the skin when placed under the strain of a Healing Bite, and she can see the glow of her chakra pathways even past her closed eyelids.

Natsuki's teeth clamp down harder as she holds back her whimper, unable to do much else other than concentrate as her wounds patch up. Though she knows she's healing up faster than any other healing jutsu could manage, it still feels like an eternity before she feels the last bit of torn skin mend itself beneath her fingertips, and she gasps in relief as she finally releases her bite.

The wounds are closed- not quite fully healed, but the bleeding has stopped and that will do. Natsuki feels her entire body sag against Kazuki, her arms falling to her side as she leans back and closes her eyes. She's really, truly drained now, and if she wasn't so exhausted she feels like she would have leaned over and thrown up in the grass after how sick that bite had made her feel.

Gods, she would never complain about hangovers ever again.

"What the heck was _that_?"

Oh, right. There is that little bit about shared pain on their compasses now, isn't there? She feels bad now- first she gets shredded by a wind jutsu, and now this... she makes the worst soulmate.

"Sorry. Should have warned you." Even toned down, she can imagine the kind of pain that could ignite. Natsuki blinks, her eyelids feeling heavy as she struggles to look up at the towering shinobi. She gives up the effort halfway through, only catching a glimpse of his dark grey vest before her eyelids droop shut.

"Shōko, how are you feeling?" Kazuki asks. Natsuki hums, finding it difficult to even muster the strength to formulate a response.

"I'm okay. Tired." Beneath her, she can feel Kazuki shift slightly, and when he speaks again his voice has lost the softness from when he'd addressed her.

"Do you have any more of that medicine?"

"Wouldn't recommend it. Forcing in more chakra after exhaustion is risky, especially using the cheap stuff like this." Hoshigaki's voice sounds almost distant to her ears, and she only just hears him over the sound of her own laboured breaths. Damn it, why can't she keep her eyes open? "It doesn't look like there's anyone else in the area. It should be safe to rest for a while and recover."

"Thank you." It takes Natsuki a moment to realise the words came from her, a rushed mumble that is quiet even to her own ears. There's no response from either the tiger nor the shinobi for a moment, long enough that Natsuki almost thinks that her words had gone unheard until Hoshigaki finally speaks up.

"I didn't do anything worth thanking." Is that note of tension in his voice just her imagination? Natsuki squints again, and this time, her eyelids refuse to budge once they shut. She can feel herself falling asleep, but- no, she has to get home. She has to-

"Kazuki-san-"

"Rest for now, shōko." Natsuki feels the pressure of a warm, slightly wet tongue lick against her cheek, and she doesn't even have the energy to wrinkle her nose in distaste. Tiger tongues feel so weird. "I will carry you to safety."

Even if she doesn't want to, Natsuki finds herself unable to do anything but nod. For one second, she has a brief moment of clarity wherein she wonders where she'd gone wrong in her life for her to end up collapsing in the presence of an S-rank missing-nin. In the next, there is nothing but darkness.

* * *

Kisame has no idea what he'd expected to find when he'd started following the needle of his compass, but it hadn't been an Uzumaki survivor and her giant cat.

Hagiwara's tiger had carried her far from the site of the earlier battle before settling down against the forest floor, hiding under the cover of shadows and nearby bushes- the whole time, Hagiwara herself hadn't so much as twitched. From his vantage point amongst the trees, Kisame gets a good view of the surrounding area with ease- and it keeps him at a safe distance from Samehada's newest obsession, too. The legendary sword is generally well behaved when Kisame commands it to be, but during whatever strange jutsu Hagiwara had used, he'd actually been forced to retreat slightly when Samehada had started reacting to the outpouring of her chakra.

Whatever Samehada had managed to get a taste of from Hagiwara, it had _liked_ it. Enough that it still wants to get more, if the way its scales are shifting restlessly is any indication.

Kisame recalls the gripping pain from his mark the moment Hagiwara sank her teeth into her arm and started glowing blue, and absently rubs at his wrist. Whatever that healing jutsu was, he's just glad she's never had to use it like that up until this point- he's only ever felt faint stings of pain on his compass, save for that one time over a year ago. If he'd been struck by something _this_ jarring in the middle of a battle, it probably would have cost him. He can see why the Uzumaki clan had been so feared by the other nations if they had such powerful techniques- and isn't that the most ironic thing out of this whole mess? His soulmate is a member of a dead clan that his village had played a part in exterminating. He may not have personally taken part in the attack that devastated Uzushiogakure, but in her eyes, he might as well be guilty enough by association. His little quip about those clan members he'd killed probably hadn't earned him any points in his favour, either.

Honestly, the way she'd reacted to that comment- steel in her dark eyes, her voice edged with ice that had meant to cut as she spat her retort- had been unexpected. There are many things about his soulmate that come as a surprise- but the fact is, he hadn't expected to find her quite so fast. It's easily been a year or more since he'd abandoned his village, throwing hunter-nin off his trail- Zabuza had been especially persistent for a while- before carefully tracing his steps back to the Land of Fire, where he remembers his compass slowing by just a fraction of a second the last time he'd been there during the war.

The only question is, now that he's found her... what comes next? He'd thought the answers would become obvious after he found the person at the end of his compass, believing that it would have taken years for him to pinpoint exactly where they were and that he'd have figured something out along the way. If not that, he'd thought- pathetically, _naively-_ that perhaps meeting his soulmate could point him in the right direction.

Instead, he's just as lost on what to do as he'd been before, only now he has a half-dead civilian- and not just any random civvie, but apparently the _heir to the leadership of Waves_\- with an overprotective tiger to deal with.

If this is the gods' way of messing with him, they're doing an excellent job.

Kisame clicks his tongue as he leans his head against the trunk of the tree at his back. Almost by rote, he unbuckles the straps of his right arm-guard and removes the piece of leather, revealing the compass on his wrist. For the first time in his life, he sees the needle lying completely still on its face, pointing in the direction of the woman sleeping against the overgrown cat on the forest floor.

He remembers dreaming about this happening as a child, just before the reality of the Bloody Mist truly struck him and removed all such innocence from his days. The recollections of how he'd used to wish his compass would focus on one of the kids in his neighbourhood strike him as bizarre now- especially when his soulmate is so obviously _not_ Kiri-born in every sense of the word. The copper glow of her russet skin proudly displays her island heritage, instead of the cooler undertones more commonly seen amongst dwellers of the mist-covered village. Her flaming waves are brighter than any shade he's ever seen, and redder than even the Terumi clan's trademark burnt auburn locks. His soulmate is so completely _different_ from any imaginings his childhood self could conjure that it's laughable.

She's also still covered in drying blood, and despite knowing she had healed herself, a seed of worry is planted in Kisame's mind. Hagiwara is going to need to replenish her energy and make up for all the blood she's lost- there's no way she isn't going to be hungry when she wakes. Doing a quick mental review of his inventory, Kisame knows he's got a half-full container of water and a few packs of dried meat he'd managed to pick up from the last town he'd stopped by at, but it will hardly be enough. Chakra depletion leaves one ravenous, and he knows that from first-hand experience.

Kisame pulls himself to his feet, his mind already set on hunting around the area. His soulmate is going to need more than just a few scraps of food to recover, and he hasn't eaten in a while, either. Her summon should be able to guard her well enough in his absence, and even if he doesn't know what those Yuga-nin were after, he doubts that they're expecting reinforcements. That reminds him- he needs to get rid of those bodies, especially the one he'd used Samehada on. Wouldn't do to leave that enormous clue for the hunter-nin to catch onto- Zabuza would smell the sign from a mile away and latch onto the trail like a leech, the tenacious brat- and maybe those two could fetch a fair price at the bounty office.

The former Kiri-nin rolls his shoulder around in its socket, taking one last look at his slumbering soulmate and her feline companion- who is looking right at him with distrust; as he should- before taking off in the direction of the abandoned bodies. First, he'll clear up the mess, and then he'll look around these parts for game.

There are a lot of things for him to do before the sun rises- and with that thought in mind, Kisame decides that his concerns about the future can wait until later.

Always, always later.

* * *

AN: Yknow when i made the initial outline of this fic my only thought was "i suck at writing fight scenes and im going to avoid that at all costs". So you can imagine how I feel looking at this 15k word doc and wondering if I have been condemned for my hubris.

Anyway, I know the timeskip seems jarring and there are a lot of unanswered questions, but i swear the discordance is intentional. The things that happened during the time between will be addressed in the coming chapters- I just wanted to keep a dose of suspense for Building Plot Drama™


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